Christmas with the Hatakes
by Princess Tyler Briefs
Summary: Christmas as a couple is fun. Christmas with an infant is even more so. KakaIru plus one for my Christmas festival. 21/25. Now featuring CRACK: NaruHina, KibaSaku, and InoLee side pairings.
1. Christmas Tree

**A/N:** So…Christmas festival anyone? I sure hope so! This one is my contribution to the fun and excitement. As usual, I can't just do what's expected. I have to do something completely odd.

I want to introduce you guys to my own KakaIru kid—I finally came up with a way to make an MPreg work for me. To give you the rundown of the story that I may or may not eventually write: Sayuri was conceived without either parent knowing because our ever-evil Danzou (the new bad guy for everything!) cast a jutsu on Iruka. He wanted to preserve the Umino clan, you see, because Iruka has a very unique blood trait (this follows my Kingdom of Secrets universe that I AM going to eventually finish). He knew that Iruka would never agree to father a child, as he and Kakashi are already in a relationship, and Tsunade wouldn't force him. So, he took matters in to his own hands to try and create the perfect solider. After her birth, Danzou kidnapped her. But they got her back!

Normally, I'd just use Sakiko, but I liked the story idea so much I wanted to invent the baby, even if I never write the story, and then she needed a story to belong to. So, here you go.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the parents, but Sayuri is completely mine. Hooray for me!

**Summary:** Christmas as a couple is fun. Christmas with an infant is even more so. KakaIru plus one for my Christmas festival.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 1: Christmas Tree_

Iruka blinked. Then he frowned. When that still failed to change anything about the situation, he blinked some more. Still the living room remained exactly as it had been when he walked in. Which was not the same as when he left. There was instead an intruder sitting in one corner of the house.

This would have been a little more distressing, except the intruder was a giant pine tree. There was nothing that Iruka could think of that would make a pine tree particularly threatening all by itself. Even if it had had a decent threat level, Kakashi was sitting on the ground next to it with Sayuri lying on her blanket making happy babbling noises not far from his reach. Even if he was hopelessly tangled in a length of rope, Kakashi wouldn't just let their daughter sit close to something that might harm her.

But how the tree had gotten in there in the first place, Iruka could not even begin to guess. Instead, he chose to get his answers from the source. "Kakashi, what are you doing?"

"Failing," the Jounin whispered in a miserable voice, holding up his tangled arms for inspection.

Iruka couldn't help but chuckle appreciatively at that, and moved to help his lover. "Who would have thought, the elite Copy-nin felled by simple rope? Now, what were you trying to do with a pine tree in our living room and some rope?"

"I'm child proofing our Christmas tree." Kakashi sounded so pleased with himself that it stopped Iruka from laughing at him. The Chuunin knew better than to laugh at childish accomplishments, it inevitably led to unhappiness for both parties.

Instead, he leaned down and started working on untangling his lover, one little loop at a time. "Dare I ask how the rope was going to help you accomplish this?"

The jounin was nearly bouncing as he used the hand Iruka wasn't holding to untangle to retrieve a book from his vest. Carefully, he shook off the Icha Icha slip cover to reveal the book underneath. It was white, with "Baby's First Year" written across in pastel colors.

Iruka dropped the arm he'd been holding, ignoring Kakashi's wordless protest, and went to pick up the wiggling baby. Sayuri had managed to roll over on to her belly, and she was trying to squirm her way over to the box of lights under the coffee table. "You're the only man I know that disguises baby books as porn."

Kakashi laughed sheepishly from behind him as Iruka scooped the girl up. She protested a little at first, but recognizing who it was soon quieted.

The Chuunin smiled a little, turning around with the six-month-old cradled in his arms. She was surprisingly sticky, and Iruka guessed Kakashi hadn't had time, or hadn't bothered, to bathe her since her lunch. There was even something that appeared to be baby food stuck to her short brown hair. "So, you're going to use the rope to anchor the tree?"

"That was the plan, yes." Kakashi stood, and the rope dropped to the ground. Apparently, the little bit Iruka had untangled had been enough to allow him freedom.

"And what, exactly, where you going to tie it to?" The wall was blank, as far as Iruka knew, unless Kakashi had decided to put hooks in the walls. Iruka hoped he hadn't, because the tree would only be up for three weeks and that sounded like a very permanent solution.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Kakashi muttered, appearing suddenly with a damp wash cloth in hand, which Iruka took gratefully. "I wanted to see where you wanted the tree first."

Sayuri squealed in protest as the cloth was rubbed over her hair, and brown eyes—Kakashi's shade of brown, not his—stared up at him indignantly. Iruka smiled at her and nuzzled one pudgy cheek with his nose, which earned him a delighted coo. He then captured one small, drool covered hand in the cloth and began cleaning that. "I appreciate that, but why did you get a tree in the first place? We've never had one before."

"Well," Kakashi shifted from foot to foot a little uncomfortably. "I ran into Kurenai at the store today, and she wanted to know what we were doing for Sayuri's first Christmas. When I said we hadn't really planned anything, I thought she was really going to kill me. She probably would have if Sayuri-chan hadn't been in the cart between us."

Iruka chuckled appreciatively, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Kakashi moved toward the coffee table and picked something up off of it.

"She gave me this, and then I felt like we had to have a tree to put it on since she went to all the trouble." Kakashi held out his hand and uncurled his fingers to reveal a small white circle, with 'Baby's First Christmas' engraved on it. "So then I went and bought a plastic tree, since the book said that it minimized needle choking hazards, and put it up, and now that we have it I think we should use it, don't you? It IS her first Christmas, Iruka, and you only get one of those. We should make it special."

"Kurenai got to you." Iruka said flatly, but he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from twitching. It was always endearing when Kakashi really got in to this having a family thing. He'd been so out of his element the past few months, having to deal with an infant for probably the first time in his life, that even though Iruka didn't doubt Kakashi's love for both of them he'd been surprisingly distant. It was nice to see him really trying. "Alright then, we'll keep the tree. But you realize that we're only decorating the parts she can't reach, don't you?"

Kakashi nodded enthusiastically, and rushed back to the table to grab another box. "I bought the perfect ornaments, too!"

Logic was telling Iruka he didn't want to know what was in that box, but when it was held out to him the Chuunin couldn't resist a peek. Inside lay about twenty little blue plastic dolphins and yellow scarecrows. On top of that sat a perfect replica of Pakkun.


	2. Lights

**A/N:** I'm glad you all like Sayuri (what little you saw of her anyway…) Hopefully; you'll still enjoy my cute little baby through every story.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 2__nd__: Lights_

Kakashi frowned at the little periwinkle blue hat held in his hand. Who came up with a name like periwinkle blue, anyway? More importantly, how did he know that's what this light blue-purple color was? Because he just looked at it and his brain registered it as exactly that shade. Which was a little ridiculous. Kind of like Iruka's proposal that as long as they had this little knitted hat that may have been periwinkle blue, though a case could be made for it being lavender, that they could keep Sayuri warm enough.

It was COLD outside. Not instant frostbite or flash frozen cold, but still chilly enough that little fingers and toes should be well taken care of! And while a jacket, mittens, and a scarf would be enough to keep himself and Iruka from freezing, Kakashi very much doubted that a tee-shirt and jeans over Sayuri's regular yellow one piece, socks, gloves, and this hat were going to be enough.

Iruka took the hat from the Jounin's slack grip with his free hand, the other being employed in keeping Sayuri from rolling off their bed. "You still don't trust me, do you?"

"No." He could have lied, but Iruka was using that voice that told Kakashi that Chuunin really already knew the answer, and there would be pain in his future if he even thought about saying anything different. "She's so little, Iruka, and she'll get cold…"

"She might be a little person, Kakashi, but she's still a person." Iruka smiled as he slipped the hat deftly over the fluffy brown hair of their daughter. She may have inherited the color from Iruka, but the Jounin could already see it had his wildness to it.

Sayuri loudly protested with a yell and continued squirming. Kakashi didn't know many infants, but he'd never met one quite as stubborn as their little daughter. It was kind of amusing to watch her protest when she couldn't have her way.

Iruka smiled indulgently at her complaints, and stopped dressing her until she stopped struggling to stare at him. Kakashi had no doubt that she was trying to figure out why the person above her had stopped, because she rarely got her way in these matters.

Kakashi sighed and leaned against the door frame, shoving his hands into the pockets of the dark blue jacked Iruka had forced upon him. "I suppose you know more about babies than I do."

"I suppose you're probably right." Iruka grinned over his shoulder, before reaching down to capture one small hand. He kissed it and blew on it, making Sayuri squeal with delight, before slipping one mitten over the pudgy digits. "We'll take a couple extra blankets in case it gets colder, but she should be just fine for now."

"As long as we keep the hat on?" He tried, really, to keep the skepticism out of his voice. At least it was toned down a little from what he felt.

"People loose most of their body heat through their heads, and babies especially. A hat keeps it in. We won't be out too long, she'll be alright."

Sayuri cried loudly as her other hand was captured by the glove. It wasn't so much a cry of being upset as one of out-and-out rage. Kakashi thought, personally, that it didn't bode well that she was already showing some signs of having Iruka's temper.

Iruka kissed on chubby pink cheek, near her nose, and ignored the angry noise she made in response. "Naruto and Sakura will be here soon. Put your mask up."

"Yes, sir," Kakashi mock saluted. He was ignored too, except to have Sayuri put in his arms so Iruka could put his jacket on. Half-lidded eyes, the mirror image of his own natural eye, scowled up at Kakashi. Sayuri seemed to think this whole mess with the clothes was his fault. For some reason, this made Kakashi laugh.

Naruto was practically bouncing in place on their doorstep, a grin on his face, when Iruka answered the door. "Is my little sister ready to go or what, Iruka-sensei?"

"Well she's dressed," Kakashi heard Iruka chuckle a little under his breath. "She's just not happy to be going."

"That's because she doesn't know her Naruto-oniichan is going," the blonde whirlwind grinned, and waved at the baby still in Kakashi's arms. Sayuri cooed happily, anger forgotten, and reached out for the curious orange thing just out of her grasp.

"Are you sure she'll be warm enough, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura frowned, and Kakashi couldn't help smiling a little. At least he wasn't the only one with doubts.

"She'll be fine." Iruka shook his head, obviously exasperated, before taking Sayuri and handing her to Naruto. In a motion that was probably too quick for the kids to properly follow, Iruka grabbed the baby-backpack, as Naruto had dubbed it, and had it strapped to Kakashi chest in a matter of moments. The Jounin shifted a little under the odd weight. He had agreed to wear the thing tonight, seeing as Iruka had always carried her in the past. He just hadn't realized how awkward it felt.

"Are you excited for your first light show, Sayuri-chan?" Naruto was half bouncing her, making her squeal and giggle with delight. "It's really pretty, with all the market lights lit up. You'll love it."

"Idiot," Sakura's voice was soft, almost fond, even as she muttered the insult. "She won't remember it more than a few minutes."

"So?" Naruto stopped his play to hand her back to Iruka, so the Chuunin could strap her into the seat on Kakashi's chest. "She doesn't have to. She can enjoy it in the moment."

Sakura and Iruka both laughed at this, and Kakashi found himself joining in. This felt…almost normal. This was odd, since the moment Tsunade had told them that Iruka was pregnant—no, since the moment they had believed her, which wasn't the same—the Copy-nin had been sure his life was never going to be normal again. And maybe it wasn't normal, exactly. Not the same normal anyway. Maybe this is what other people, with families, felt like.

It was a long walk to the market from the three bedroom apartment he and Iruka shared, near the civilian district, when you had to walk along the ground. But when they got there, and Naruto took Sayuri out of her carrier to hold her up to inspect the elaborately decorated lanterns, and she squealed in delight, it was worth it.

More than that, a strange feeling of contentment had settled in Kakashi's chest, and only intensified when Sakura lit a sparkler and showed it to the tot from a safe distance for her to admire. When Iruka snuggled her close and gave Sayuri her first taste of hot chocolate by dipping his finger in the foamy mug, blowing on it to cool it, and letting her suck on it.

This was something Kakashi hadn't realized he was missing all those years growing up alone. Now he couldn't remember what it felt like to be without it.


	3. Gingerbread

**A/N:** More fun with Sayuri and Kakashi, yay!

The recipe is for 'Nauvoo Gingerbread Cookies', technically, but I think all the good recipes are about the same. I haven't tried it personally, because I'm a terrible cook, but it sounds good. You really can substitute the lard for shortening, by the way. I checked.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 3__rd__: Gingerbread_

It had taken several months, but Kakashi was now ninety-eight percent sure that the bottle was the right temperature. Always in the past he had made it to cold, which had always made Sayuri fussy and sometimes upset her stomach, so he usually stuck to bottles of baby food when Iruka wasn't around. This time, however, he was trying to get the little girl to sleep. She refused to take a nap earlier, but Kakashi knew from experience that a cranky Sayuri was far from a good thing. Uncontrolled blood limits were not pleasant.

Hopefully, the warm bottle would lull the stubborn little girl to sleep.

With a small flourish and a grin, Kakashi placed the warm-but-not-hot bottle on her high chair tray and grinned. "Lunch is served, princess."

Sayuri looked up at him skeptically and made no move to reach for the bottle. Both of them knew she was quite capable of feeding herself with it, she would do it for Iruka, but she didn't seem to trust that this particular bottle was good enough for her.

Kakashi shrugged and left it there. He had seen Iruka do this often enough with small pieces of food he wanted her to try. She wouldn't want to, but the minute Iruka's back was turned they would be in her mouth. Hopefully, the bottle would work the same.

In the mean time, the Jounin had cookies to be making. Iruka had let it slip not long ago that gingerbread cookies where his favorite, and once the idea of making them for Iruka as a surprise had gotten in to the Copy-nin's head it would not leave. He had time to make and chill the dough now, and still have time to cook them so they would be nice and warm when Iruka got home.

Kakashi took his recipe, bribed from Ayame, out of his pocket. "Alright, first we need one cup of sugar." The Jounin couldn't help but make a face. He wasn't a fan of sweet things, generally, and one cup of sugar seemed a lot to him.

Sayuri must have found his face amusing, as she could see it without his mask on, and she giggled from her high chair. Apparently, the bottle hadn't been picked up yet.

As instructed, Kakashi put the cup of sugar in a bowl, followed by a cup of molasses. The recipe also called for three-fourths cup of lard, but Ayame had told him to substitute shortening when he'd made a disgusted noise at that idea, so he added that into the bowl as well.

"Mix until smooth," he read aloud, though he wasn't sure whose benefit it was for. It wasn't like Sayuri would be taking notes. It just felt like that's what he should be doing since she was sitting there staring at him over the tip of the bottle.

Not really relishing the idea of stirring those distinctly not smooth things together until they looked that way, Kakashi decided now was a good time to get back to the original problem. He walked back over to his daughter's high chair, picked up the bottle, and tried to hand it to her. "Come on, Sayuri-chan. You must be hungry, it's lunch time now."

She just continued to stare at him, half-lidded eyes clearly saying 'I know what you're trying to do, and I'm not buying it.'

"Most willful child ever created," Kakashi muttered, but he couldn't help but smile. Who could expect different, if you combined himself and Iruka? Shizune had looked ill at the very thought of how the girl might turn out when she was older. "You're not going to defeat me in a war of wills just yet, little girl. I know you're hungry, and I'm going to leave this here and you there until it's gone."

Sayuri defiantly knocked the bottle to the ground.

Frowning at this, Kakashi stood up and scratched his head. This was quite the predicament. If he put the bottle back up, she'd only throw it down again, and that would get them nowhere. Maybe it was time to try a different tactic. Maybe if he left the bottle on the floor until she started reaching for it, she might be more willing to cooperate.

He instead returned to the counter, picking up his bowl to start mixing. "I just can't wait until you learn to talk, Sayuri-chan. I'm certain you're going to have an earful for me."

There was no response from the high chair corner.

Once he'd gotten the mixture into what Kakashi thought it probably meant by smooth, he added two eggs and stirred those in. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that Sayuri still hadn't moved, so he proceeded with the instructions. Six cups flour, one teaspoon baking soda, one half a teaspoon salt, one teaspoon of cinnamon and the final, most important ingredient, of one and a half teaspoons ground ginger were all added to the mixture, leaving Kakashi with a soft dough substance when all was said and done.

Sayuri had not made a noise or any attempt to reach for the bottle at all, and this had the Jounin on edge. Now she wasn't going to be cranky only because she was tired, but also because she was hungry. This was not good.

While their daughter was perfectly agreeable and affectionate when things were going how she wanted them, she would turn angry and stubborn the instant you tried to go against her will. This was something Kakashi really hoped maturity would smooth out a bit, but in the mean time he had to deal with shrieking wails and, worse, the realistic genjutsu she could unleash. It was difficult to fight with something that could see inside your mind and would modify to your thoughts.

The Copy-nin bent down, scooping the bottle off the floor. Sayuri's eyes followed it, but she made no move to reach for it.

It was then that Kakashi had what may or may not have been his most brilliant idea in the history of his brilliant ideas.

He was fairly certain Iruka was going to kill him for this—something in these cookies had to be on that allergen list he was always talking about, and he was completely positive the raw eggs were a 'do not do'—but as long as nothing happened Iruka wouldn't have to know. And Kakashi REALLY hoped nothing would happen, but he was out of other ideas. If this didn't work, he was going to have to put up with oddly powerful and uncontrolled genjutsu until Iruka got home and calmed her down.

Remembering only too well the first time the infant had let loose her blood limit in a fit of rage, Kakashi determined the pay off far outweighed any potential risks. He smeared a little of the dough on the tip of the bottle and put it back on the tray.

This caught the little girl's interest enough that she forgot drinking the bottle wasn't something she wanted to do. Like all new things, her first reaction was to stick it in her mouth, which was exactly what Kakashi wanted.

To the Jounin's immense relief, Sayuri was sound asleep before the dough had finished chilling.


	4. Pajamas

**A/N:** Now that we've had fun with Kakashi, let's add Naruto and Iruka to the mix! Sorry this is so short, I kind of ran out of time. I had more to say, but all of it had spoilers to Kingdom of Secrets and I AM going to finish that so I didn't want them here.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 4__th__: Pajamas_

Normally, Iruka would never have taken Naruto shopping. He'd learned when the boy was eleven that he and stores were like similar charges—they repelled each other quite spectacularly. And usually quite messily. If the store owners weren't angrily making sure Naruto wasn't allowed in, Naruto seemed hell-bent on getting himself kicked out from excessive noise.

That was three years ago now, though, and both the shop owners and Naruto had matured. Hopefully. Even if they hadn't, there was a new variable that needed to be addressed. It was named Sayuri, and it was exceptionally loud when over stimulated by bunches of strangers approaching her and cooing. Except when Naruto was holding her.

This was something Iruka could not figure out. It didn't even seem worth figuring out. It worked and he needed it, because he needed Sayuri to come along so he could measure her for her presents, so Naruto was coming too no matter what happened, so that Iruka would be sane at the end of this trip if nothing else.

Naruto grinned as he bounced along beside his former sensei, Sayuri strapped to his chest in her little carrier. He was as bad as the Academy students around the holidays, really. "Are Sakura-chan and I invited over for Christmas dinner, Iruka-sensei?"

"We were planning on it," the Chuunin smiled to himself. He hadn't really thought about Christmas dinner yet. His mother used to make roast teriyaki chicken, fried potatoes, and Christmas cake. Iruka had no idea how to make any of those things. He hadn't had a Christmas since his parents died. In the past it had hurt too much, and Kakashi had never shown any interest before so it was alright.

"Can we have ramen?" Naruto's grin was wide and mischievous, even as he removed Sayuri's pacifier from the diaper bag slung over his shoulder and stuck it in her mouth. She immediately ceased the little whimpering noises she had been making.

"No." Even though his tone was harsh, the corners of Iruka's mouth twitched in to a smile. Leave it to Naruto to think that was an acceptable Christmas dinner. 'Then again,' Iruka sighed to himself, 'who's fault is it that he doesn't know what Christmas should be like?'

He knew the answer; he just didn't want to deal with it.

Naruto pouted for only a moment before pointing enthusiastically at an orange pair of pajamas that were hanging on the very back of the rack of baby clothes Iruka was looking through. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, how about those?"

"If you give her those," Iruka said, matter-of-factly, "I'm burning them."

"But she likes them, Iruka-sensei," the young boy grinned, grabbing them and handing them to the baby. Sayuri reached out for them, most unhelpfully, and fisted one small hand in them. Naruto grabbed one of the awful sleeves, the little cartoon ninjas draw on it going lopsided as the fabric folded, and rubbed it against her cheek. She squealed in delight, the pacifier falling from her mouth, and Iruka only just managed to save it at the last minute.

After quick inspection, the pacifier was stuck back in Sayuri's mouth. "I will not only burn them, I'll burn everything orange you own as well."

Naruto's eyes widened comically. He knew better to suppose that was an idle threat. The pajamas were placed back on the rack, and both of the young ones stared back at him as if waiting further instructions.

Iruka sighed, running a hand wearily over his eyes. He really hated shopping, and he wasn't super pleased about having to acknowledge Christmas existed outside the Academy this year. This was really too much for one person.

There was the clattering of hangers, and Iruka didn't dare look. He could only pray under his breath that Naruto was not selected as Sayuri's Jounin sensei when she was older because THAT would be a nightmare.

"Hey! Iruka-sensei! I can't decide which one to get."

Naruto's excited tone was what made Iruka decide it was best to open his eyes and fend off any impending trouble the teen was about to cause. What he found was Naruto excitedly holding up three pairs of pajamas. One was a soft sea foam green color, with bunches of little dolphins playing sprayed across it. The second, a deep blue with bunches of henohenomoheji's printed in dark red—Iruka couldn't help wondering if Kakashi shouldn't get royalties for it or something. The third where baby yellow and had a cute little fox sitting squarely on the chest and playing on the pocket sewed on the tummy.

The Chuunin could not help staring. It should have been impossible to find those articles of clothing, never mind finding all three of them in one store. It was such a mind boggling coincidence that Iruka half-suspected that SOMEONE he knew had special ordered all three of them. He mentally cursed Tsunade for ever giving Naruto a Christmas bonus.

"I can't decide which one she likes best," Naruto grinned cheekily, and held them out to the baby to inspect. "Which do you think, Sayuri-chan? You like the foxes best, right?"

In response the pacifier was dropped again and small fists reached out, grabbing a handful of each of them, and shoving them into her now vacant mouth with a squeal of delight.

Naruto stared, completely dumbfounded. "I…I guess that answers that question."

Iruka couldn't help the laughter that came bubbling up his throat. It started as a soft chuckle, then graduated to belly laughs. Before long he was clutching the clothes rack to remain standing. He knew that Naruto and Sayuri were looking at him like he'd lost it, but Iruka didn't care. They couldn't see their adorable and very alike faces.


	5. Snowflakes

**A/N:** Hey guys! I'm going to be gone this weekend, but I'm going to try to get these all posted anyway. If I can't, I'm still going to write them and expect a large post on Monday.

Very light hints of some of my Rookie 9 (and Team Guy) pairings, but they're miniscule. There are also some slight spoilers to Kingdom of Secrets that were unavoidable this time, but hopefully they're slight enough you won't notice…

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
**__**By: Reggie**_

_December 5__th__: Snowflakes_

Babysitting Sayuri was never an experience that Sakura particularly enjoyed.

Oh, she was far from the worst baby ever. Sakura had had plenty of babysitting experience, both before and after becoming a genin, and by far the worst kids had been a pack of five and under Inuzuka brats that had been a mission for her, Ino, and Chouji after Shikamaru's promotion. The little monsters had managed to destroy half the compound before Team Kurenai had shown up as back-up.

The one compensation for that mess had been how horrified Kiba had looked when realizing that she, Sakura, had not only been in his house, but also gone in his room while chasing a particularly nasty kid with very sharp teeth. His face had gotten so red that the fang marks on his face had disappeared, and she'd been genuinely concerned he would follow Hinata's usual example and pass out.

Ino had had a field day with that, and poor Kiba had avoided everyone but his teammates for a month.

There was no way Sayuri, even in her worst mood, could top the hell unleashed by teething Inuzukas. No, what made babysitting Sayuri such a particularly unpleasant experience was that Iruka-sensei always left her and Naruto a to-do list of things he expected to be done before he and Kakashi-sensei got back.

Last time they'd been asked to reorganize the cupboards so anything that might harm curious babies was up very high, and put childproof locks on the doors. The collection of JUGS of poison she had found in the cupboard above the fridge had been mildly disturbing. Naruto had found something in one of the drawers that he refused to show her, and still wouldn't speak about.

In theory, today's list seemed far less traumatic. Cut out one hundred of those paper snowflakes, trying to make them all different, and then use a finger that had chakra focused on it to draw a line on thirty of them. Theoretically, this would leave a trace amount of chakra behind.

Sakura remembered this lesson. Iruka-sensei would tie a string to each snowflake and tape them all to the ceiling. It was an observation lesson, although the students wouldn't be told this. They would think it was just winter decorations. At the end of the day, whoever could point out all thirty chakra-lined snowflakes when he asked would get a treat.

In their graduating class, it was the future Team Kurenai that had succeeded at this the best, although that shouldn't have been a surprise.

At the time, it hadn't occurred to Sakura just how long to take to cut out one hundred paper snowflakes. But now her fingers ached and she wanted nothing more than to give Iruka-sensei a huge hug for all the effort he went to while trying to train them just to survive.

Naruto grunted as he nicked his finger with the scissors again. They'd put Sayuri down for her nap a half hour ago, and had been working nonstop ever since. In that time, Naruto had managed to cut his thumb open, twice, with the safety scissors. Safety scissors!

"How do you keep doing that?" She half growled, exasperated. "It shouldn't even be possible, but you keep managing it!"

Naruto half-shrugged, his thumb in his mouth as he sucked on the wound.

Sakura rolled her eyes and grabbed the next piece of paper. Twenty down, eighty to go. Oh joy. "I can understand why you have to do this. You're family to them. But I don't think I should be required to."

The boy shrugged, removing his thumb this time to speak. "Because you like playing with my little sister?"

She couldn't stop the smile that spread over her face whenever Naruto called her that. Even though niece probably would have been a more appropriate term, Naruto had determined the first time he saw her that it simply did not suit the infant. She was immediately titled little sister, and she had remained it ever since. "That was why I came the first time. There's no logic for every other time."

Naruto inspected his thumb for a moment before returning to his cutting once he'd decided it wasn't bleeding anymore. "Because Kakashi-sensei pays well?"

This was true. Kakashi-sensei paid them more than it would have taken for him to hire a genin team for the job, sometimes extra if Sayuri had been particularly difficult that day. The only explanation Sakura could come up with was that he wasn't comfortable leaving her with strangers while he and Iruka went out for their date night, like they did every week. Which, she supposed, made sense, considering all the usually circumstances surrounding the little princess.

Naruto's mind must have been wandering the same direction as her's, because he grinned suddenly and said, "Hey, Sakura-chan, when we started that mission to escort Iruka-sensei, did you ever think Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei would have a baby together?"

"No. They're both MEN, Naruto. Present circumstances excluded, it isn't really possible." Sakura shook her head, amused. "Do you know any other kids with two biological fathers?"

"That wasn't what I meant." The other teen probably would have been upset if he wasn't so focused on cutting interesting shapes for his snowflakes. "I meant, did you think they would end up together like this?"

"Why, did you?" Sakura had to profess a curiosity here, because, no, she'd never envisioned the two sensei together. As far as she knew, the two had only had a passing acquaintance at best prior to that mission. She seriously doubted that even the men they were speaking of had given the matter any thought. She doubted even more that Naruto, who still couldn't see Hinata's obvious crush on him, would have been that far sighted.

"Not exactly," the blonde grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "I just remember thinking before we left that they fought worse that Tsunade-baachan and Erro-sennin."

Sakura laughed, picking her scissors back up off the table now that she had finished folding. "And those two fight like an old married couple."

"Exactly." They continued working in silence for several long moments before Naruto paused. "Uh, Sakura-chan…should we get them a Christmas present?"

This gave the young kunoichi pause. They had both already picked out presents for Sayuri, but getting a present for the two adults hadn't really occurred to her. Now that it had been mentioned, it seemed silly that she hadn't thought of it earlier. Of course they needed to get Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei presents! She spent more time with them than she did her own family.

But what did you get them as a couple? Individually it wouldn't be hard, but together? Obviously some of their interests had to overlap, but Sakura could not think of one that they shared.

"I guess you don't have any ideas either," Naruto sighed after she hadn't answered him for a while, lost in her thoughts. "I know what I would get Iruka-sensei. He'd love some vouchers to Icharaku!"

"To pay for your meals," the pink haired girl observed, torn between amusement and exasperation.

Naruto ignored her. "But I don't think Kakashi-sensei even likes ramen all that much, and Ino says you have to get them presents as a couple 'cause that's a couple thing…"

"Wait," Sakura put down her scissors so she would not be tempted to use them on her teammate. "You asked Ino about this before you asked me?"

"Ah, well, not exactly." Naruto shifted, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "I heard Ino talking with Chouji about how shopping for Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei is difficult because they are kind of a couple, but they aren't, so you can't get them a joint gift like with regular couples…"

Sakura nodded, satisfied. "You don't have to, but it kind of seems like we should."

She's already decided that the two of them would get the older men a joint present. Naruto never had much money, and Tsunade-sama was still taking the cost of damages Sakura caused out of her paycheck, so the kunoichi's funds were lower than normal at the moment, too, so the only way they could get anything decent would be to purchase it together.

That still left her stumped with what to get them. "Maybe we should hire them a real babysitter. Or get Iruka-sensei an extra pair of hands for the chores."

Naruto laughed.


	6. Sledding Full

**A/N:** Must…resist…urge…to sing…Jingle Bells! Short to prevent cavities.

Right version this time! Sorry.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 6__th__: Sledding_

"You've had a lot of really bad ideas, Pup," Uuhei muttered, doing her best to hold still while the ninja fashioned a harness around her, "but I'm pretty sure this one tops the list."

"Why?" Kakashi looked genuinely confused. "She's not sitting there alone, Iruka's holding her. And we won't be going all that fast with Pakkun as lead dog."

"Hey!" The pug growled from where he was already strapped up.

"Well," Guruko, who was behind him, smirked, "your legs are kind of short."

"Not as short as your…"

"Heel, guys," Kakashi rolled his eyes as he said it, fairly confident he didn't want to know. "Come on now, this is supposed to be a fun family friendly activity, alright?"

All of the dogs turned to look at him, with various degrees of shock. Probably because the words 'fun' and 'family friendly' were not those commonly spouted from his mouth. The Jounin laughed nervously, moving on to fasten Bull in place. The large puppy, because that's what he was, really, was in the back to do most of the pulling. Theoretically.

"You're absolutely certain this is a good idea?" Iruka looked up from where he was already sitting, tucked in with more blankets than was probably strictly necessary, in the dog sled.

Sayuri was positioned comfortably in his lap, dark eyes wide and alert. This was a new experience and, true to Hatake form, she was absorbing all of it like a little sponge.

"It's going to be fine," the Copy-nin grinned, tightening the straps over Bull's chest with half-frozen fingers. "There's plenty of snow, and we're only going around the training grounds…the genin level ones."

Iruka frowned out at the open fields. "Do you see how many children are out here playing Kakashi? If we get through this without running over any of them I'm going to die of shock."

Kakashi couldn't help pouting, slightly. "You're doubting me again. I'm not a Jounin for no reason, you know."

"I'm not doubting you." Iruka shot back. "You're underestimating the capacity of children to get underfoot and in to trouble."

This was probably true, Kakashi had to concede. Iruka was the expert on such things, and Kakashi knew from experience that Sayuri was a master and getting in his way and she could do little more than roll around and wiggle where she wanted to go. Still, he wasn't JUST a Jounin and his dogs were all very skilled. They could run easily as a pack…although he hadn't tied these particular dogs together before…

"Where did you get this sled anyway," Iruka looked around at the contraption. It was well built, and looked like one of the dog sleds Iruka had seen of teams in Snow Country.

Kakashi went still for a moment, resting his head against Bull's side. The big dog whimpered, trying to turn his head so he could lick Kakashi's face. Fortunately for the Jounin, he was already strapped in enough to prevent this. Kakashi took a shaky breath before speaking. "It belonged to my father. He used to take me out like this the first day the snow was deep enough. It's been in storage for a long time, I finished cleaning and repairing it last night."

Sayuri made a soft noise in her throat, and reached out small hands to her other father. Kakashi gave Bull's harness one final tightening pull before going over and offering his hand to comfort the little girl. Iruka was staring at him, a look in his brown eyes that didn't have a word.

"I remember loving it as a kid, and it was always part of Christmas for me," Kakashi's voice was soft as his free hand caressed their daughter's chubby cheek. "I just…"

"Do they respond to mush?"

Iruka's interrupting question was so unexpected that Kakashi nearly toppled over in to the snow. "What?"

The Chuunin smiled impishly at him, holding Sayuri just a little bit closer to his chest. "I asked if your dogs answer to mush?"

"No on your life, sensei," Bisuke growled over shoulder, though there wasn't any real malice in it. "We understand go just as well as…"

"Go!" Bull yelped happily, lunging forward. The sled moved, and the other dogs were obliged to follow, or else be run over.

Iruka gave a startled cry, and Sayuri squealed in delight, as the sled raced across the frozen ground, with Kakashi yelling and running after it.


	7. Hiding Presents

**A/N:** More fun with Sakura and Naruto. I love these two in KakaIru stories so much, it borders on ridiculous.

As a reminder, in the-story-I'm-going-to-write-eventually, Danzou tries to kidnap Sayuri in an attempt to complete his original mission of training her to be loyal to him. He was ultimately unsuccessful, obviously, but he did get a hold of her for a little while, and it looked at the time like the mission would succeed. To explain Kakashi's first reaction.

I wonder if George Lucas ever felt like he was giving the whole story when he wrote his out of order…

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 7__th__: Hiding Presents_

Seeing the door to the apartment slightly open made Kakashi's heart skip several beats. Danzou was locked away permanently. He couldn't try to take Sayuri from them again. No one would take her away. And she wasn't home; she was with Kurenai while Kakashi went Christmas shopping. If anyone tried to take her, they'd have to deal with one royally pissed of kunoichi with maternal instincts to spare.

The breathing process having now been resumed, Kakashi slunk silently through the door. He could sense two people inside, and heard them arguing in hushed whispers. They obviously didn't know who they were dealing with if they were being this careless about it.

He was the shadow of death, creeping down the hall, and pushing the door open. The kunai in his hand froze and instant before release, and Kakashi stared in utter bewilderment. There, by the bed, stood his two students, arguing in hushed voice and passing a horribly wrapped box in painfully red paper back and forth.

They hadn't noticed him yet, and Kakashi couldn't decide how he felt about that.

"Naruto, they're elite ninja! They'll notice if we hid it here," Sakura hissed, snatching the box away from her teammate. "We should hide it in your apartment."

"But Iruka-sensei cleans my apartment all the time, he'll find it," the blonde squawked, making a grab for the box. "They'll never think to look under their own bed."

Kakashi chuckled under his breath, admitting to himself that he WOULDN'T have thought to look there, and made a mental note to add that to his list of places to secure every night, right after putting traps on all the access points in the apartment.

"They won't have to look, they'll know," Sakura hissed. "Have you ever been able to play a prank on Iruka-sensei?"

"Well…"

"Your idiot jutsu doesn't count!" She hit him over the head smartly with the box, and Naruto whimpered. "That would shock anyone."

'Except me,' Kakashi thought proudly. 'And people call me a pervert.'

"If you're so against hiding it here, why can't we use your house," Naruto whined, once again missing grabbing the box from her hand. "Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei never go there."

"I told you, my mother opens all the presents I hide there. If she finds this…" Sakura's face went scarlet, her green eyes horrified at the very thought.

Now this was interesting. What could his students have gotten him and Iruka for Christmas that the teen didn't want her mother to find? This was too much of a temptation for him to resist. "Looks like someone has earned herself a spot on Santa's naughty list, hm?"

…That had sounded much worse a loud than it had in his head.

Both of the teenagers jumped, Sakura dropping the box in shock. It rolled on to its side with a dull thump.

"Kakashi-sensei! We were just…I mean…" Sakura floundered, waving her arms around wildly.

"Testing the traps on the door," Naruto grinned confidently. "You need some work, sensei."

Cute. "I don't set the traps when nobody is home, Naruto-kun. There is no point. They're welcome to steal stuff."

It was all set to explode if it left the premise with someone who didn't deactivate the seal anyway.

Naruto's face fell, and Kakashi wondered what kind of horrors they had encountered while breaking in. Maybe Iruka, who was a master of traps, had set some up that were always active and would catch anyone who wasn't Kakashi? That was possible.

Sakura fidgeted nervously, playing with her hair. "Where is Sayuri-chan today, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Kurenai was watching her while I went Christmas shopping." Check on presents for Sayuri and his students, still nothing found for Iruka. "I had to stop by here to drop off some things before I went and picked her up."

Namely the bag stuffed with baby toys that were now lying outside the door.

Before either of the lower ninja could protest, Kakashi had scooped down and picked up the offending box. Grinning under his mask, he gave it a little shake. He assumed it wasn't breakable since Sakura had used it as a weapon earlier. "What's in here, I wonder."

"Ah, nothing!" Sakura looked ready to pounce on the box, her eyes humorously large. "It's just a present for Sayuri-chan. We were going to put it with the others."

"Really?" Kakashi found it impossible to keep the amusement out of his voice. "Well, you don't mind if I have a look, do you? I need to check that it's safe for her, you see. No small parts or anything." He flicked his thumb, undoing one strip of tape.

"No!" Both teens cried out, making unsuccessful grabs for the box.

"What Sakura-chan meant was it's supposed to be a surprise!" Naruto laughed nervously, shifting from foot to foot. "If it's not safe, we'll take it back after Christmas and get something else."

Kakashi's grin turned slightly evil. He wouldn't spoil their fun by opening the present, but even so he could have a little fun with them. Minato-sensei had pulled this trick on him often enough, until Kakashi wised up found good enough hiding places that his sensei wouldn't find the present early. "If you two want to hide this so badly, how about I do it for you?"

"But," Sakura protested, half reaching again, "Kakashi-sensei, it…"

"I won't peak." He promised, spinning it on his finger, while the evil voice in his head laughed. "But you two are going to have to find it again before Christmas. Otherwise, Iruka-sensei will think you have forgotten him. Consider it a lesson in stealth."

He dashed out the door, too quick for them to follow, as they both let out yells of frustration and fury. This was really too much fun, Kakashi decided, even as he ran through the list of all the places his sensei had chosen in the past. Maybe deep in the tunnels under the mountain? Or Tsunade's office, that had great potential.


	8. Santa

**A/N:** Thank Kita for this one. I felt so inspired by yesterday's post…

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 8__th__: Santa_

"Hell. No." Kakashi was floored. Flabbergasted. Horrified. A myriad of other descriptive words to describe this feeling of 'that is so wrong' screaming through the Jounin's system that he couldn't think of right now.

Guy's teeth flashed painfully, making Kakashi see spots every time he blinked, as he struck a nice guy pose. Kakashi couldn't decide if the Santa suit his friend was wearing made the look more or less effective. "Surely, Kakashi, you wish your cute daughter to have the best and most youthful Christmas possible!"

"Yes…" Kakashi wasn't sure this was a question, and less sure he wanted youthful attached to a sentence involving Sayuri's Christmas, but that seemed the only thing there was to say.

"Then you must have Santa Claus, in all his vigorous and joyful splendor," here, Guy's teeth flashed again, and it took all of Kakashi's self control not to rub his eye, "to deliver her wonderful presents!"

Guy was going to be arrested by the grammar police someday for over use of adjectives, Kakashi was sure of it. "Why? She's not going to remember it…"

This was the question Kakashi had been asking himself for days now. What was the point of all this when Sayuri wasn't going to remember?

Iruka was obviously less than comfortable with the idea of celebrating Christmas like this, and though he was going along with it there was an undercurrent of tension that hadn't been there before.

The only reason Kakashi felt like he had to do it was because of what Kurenai had said. "You have a family now, Kakashi, and this is what families do."

No one had ever put it like that before. He knew, of course, that Iruka and Sayuri were his family but no one had ever called them that before, and for some reason that made all the difference. This was something he hadn't had since he was a little boy, and it was very important that he do this right.

From somewhere in the depths of that awful suit, Guy pulled out a disposable camera and tossed it at Kakashi.

The silver-haired jounin caught it on instinct and stared at it for several minutes. "What's this for?"

"To preserve the memories of most precious youth!" Guy let slip a few manly tears before looking back at his friend. "Surely, you've been doing this all of this wonderful holiday season, my eternal rival."

"I…well…no." It wasn't often that Kakashi felt stupid, even less often when he was around Guy, but he was feeling it now. How could he not have realized such a simple solution? Sayuri may not be able to remember, but they could always show her later. Tell her about the fun stuff they did.

How ridiculous not to have thought of it before!

Guy looked far too pleased with himself about all of this. They were best friends, certainly, but they were also rivals in Guy's mind and he'd just made Kakashi look very foolish indeed and he knew it. "Then, my most esteemed rival, you must begin! Capture the fleeting moments of youth before they are whisked away by the winds of time!" Now there were many more tears, and a golden sunset on an ocean behind him. "If you do not, you will regret! I only wish I had more pictures of my cute students when they came to me, so full of the vigor of innocence and youth!"

Kakashi sweat dropped, sticking the camera in his weapons pouch beside the Icha Icha disguised baby book. He would never get used to Guy. "Taking pictures has always been Iruka's thing, but he doesn't seem very interested in this…"

The other jounin got a serious, for Guy, look on his face. It was a little creepy looking under that fluff tipped hat. "Is your beloved Iruka-sensei not a fan of Christmas, Kakashi?"

The jounin could only shrug. "Before Sayuri came a long, we largely ignored it. I mean, we exchanged gifts on the day, but didn't decorate and never actually mentioned the holiday by name."

Guy frowned, putting a hand to his face in a rather dramatic thoughtful pose. "I understand that you never did, Kakashi, but Iruka-sensei seems to be the Christmas Spirit type at the Academy. He always has me come in to play Santa for his students Christmas party."

The image of Guy, dressed as he was now, with Iruka sitting on his lap was one Kakashi could have gone lifetimes without ever envisioning, and now he firmly wished he knew a brain-washing jutsu just to be rid of it. "I don't know why, Guy, I never asked him because I didn't want him to ask me. But we have Sayuri now, and it can't just be about us." He shrugged helplessly again.

"Then it is up to Santa Claus to give your beloved some needed holiday cheer!" Guy flashed his teeth brilliantly, and threw himself into an enthusiastic pose to set off running. The affect was slightly ruined by the jiggling pillow he had tied around his middle.

"Guy, I said no!" Even if brain soap existed, Kakashi was certain there wouldn't be enough to get this horrible event out of his mind. Guy, Santa suit, it was all too much.

"But, I am the most youthful of…"

He looked so genuinely hurt that Kakashi didn't know what to do. "It's not that you're not fit for it Guy, I just…"

Kakashi fell speechless as Guy stepped back and gave him a bone-crushing hug. "Of course, my eternal rival, I understand now! You wish to play Santa for your own cute daughter! Why did I not think of it before?"

"No, that's not…"

"You may borrow my suit!" With this pronouncement Guy stepped back, and before Kakashi could make a move to stop him, had stripped down to his pillow and lime green, rather scanty, underwear.

Kakashi was sure he threw up a little in his mouth as the other Jounin shoved the red monstrosity into his hands, ignoring the stares from the traumatized passers-by. "May it serve you well in spreading joy in your time of need, Kakashi, as it has always served me!"

Guy turned and flashed the crowd a dazzling smile. Kakashi decided seeing a nice guy pose from the back was something he NEVER wanted to see again, and once he figured out how to remove that image from his mind he was going to soak the suit in oil, burn it, and scatter the ashes in different corners of the globe.


	9. Decorations

**A/N:** And now we're back to some Iruka fun! Hooray! Major Kingdom of Secrets spoilers here, but I've given up totally avoiding them. There's still enough mystery to support the plot anyway, I think, since this is the side mystery.

I'm also just now realizing that the KakaIru part of this equation is rather…lacking. I'm going to have to fix that.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 9__th__: Decorations_

Iruka frowned deeply, trying with little success to reach the hammer he'd stupidly left over by the last wreath he'd hung. Why couldn't tools just come when they were called? They were nearly as bad as children, except tools could actually do what was expected of them occasionally.

Iruka leaned over, stretching his hand out to try and grasp the elusive handle. This mission was aborted when the stepping stool he was on pitched forward. It wouldn't have been a far fall to the floor, but Iruka was glad when Kakashi caught him just the same.

"You know, you could just ask for my help," the Jounin grinned, setting Iruka back on his feet and moving to go pick up Sayuri from where she was playing with the ends of the garland in a corner. They didn't LOOK breakable, but then Sayuri had the amazing ability of finding the weaknesses in everything.

Iruka ran his fingers through his hair, which had been pulled back in a loose and low pony tail to keep it out of his face. "I promised Naruto he could help, since he's never decorated for Christmas before. I just needed to get started because he's late."

"Not my fault," Kakashi chirped happily, scooping up their daughter and kissing her face in a deliberately sloppy and wet way. Sayuri squealed, but whether from enjoyment or in protest Iruka couldn't decide.

"It is completely your fault," the chuunin growled, surprising even himself with how realistic it sounded, even though he didn't feel all that upset. "You and your bad habits."

Kakashi pouted, looking hurt. "No need to get angry, Iruka, I was only teasing."

"I know. I'm sorry." Iruka sighed, leaning against the wall. "This just has me on edge, that's all."

"This being the Christmas decorating thing, or the idea of giving Naruto tools to play with." Kakashi gave him a half-smile before wincing as Sayuri grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked. She may not have been very big or strong, but Iruka knew from experience just how much the hair pulling hurt.

Iruka returned the smile and walked over, attempting to loosen tiny fists from their silver prize, "how about a little of both."

The Jounin hissed a little under his breath as Sayuri gave another tug, ignoring Iruka's hands trying to coax her to let go. "Now, is it the Christmas decorations themselves or…"

Iruka had never been so grateful for a knock on the door. That was not going to end in a question Iruka knew the answer to, he was sure of it. He walked to the door, giving Kakashi enough time to fumble with his mask while getting his hair yanked. It really was an amusing sight.

Instead of Naruto standing there with an excuse ready, as Iruka had expected, he instead found himself face to face with a massive plastic snow man. The thing was easily as tall as Iruka was, it's long plastic carrot nose nearly putting the chuunin's eye out, and its top hat was tipped down to cover its left eye. "What the…"

"Isn't it great, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto laughed from behind the monstrosity. "Tsunade-baachan gave it to me!"

For some reason, this wasn't the least bit surprising. "I really hope you're planning on taking him back with you, Naruto-kun, because I don't think he can stay here."

"Why not?" Kakashi asked from across the room, his voice only a little strained. "I think he's quite a handsome fellow."

Iruka shot the Jounin a half-glare over his shoulder, but it wasn't very effective. Kakashi was too preoccupied trying to prevent Sayuri from climbing on his head in her quest for more fluffy stuff to pull.

"Put Iruka-sensei, you haven't seen the best part!" The snowman leapt upward and forward, nearly knocking Iruka off his feet as he dodged out the way. Naruto came waddling in, his arms barely wrapping around the middle snowball. He placed it triumphantly by the tree and, from somewhere, removed a wire from the back. Iruka groaned as, once plugged in, the whole creation lit up and started changing different colors.

"Isn't it great?" Naruto grinned. "I guess it used to be Erro-sennin's, but Tsunade-baachan made him get rid of it this year. She thought I might like it."

Kakashi snickered as he appeared at Iruka's side, Sayuri now firmly in the Jounin's grasp and both hands well away from the fluff on his head. "If it really was Jiraiya's, then you should be glad that lighting up is all it does, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka snorted, and would have elbowed Kakashi in the stomach had he not been holding their daughter. And the jerk probably knew it to. Stupid Jounin, using an infant as a shield. "Lighting up had BETTER be all it does."

Naruto seemed to be ignoring them as he admired the gift. "She said it was a favorite of Dad's when he was a kid."

Both of the older ninja froze at that. They hadn't really talked about Yondaime and the revelations of that long ago mission. Naruto had left so soon afterwards, and Iruka hadn't felt that explaining why he'd let his little half-brother suffer alone for so long was something he could do in a letter.

He was just as certain he couldn't do it now.

Naruto still needed an explanation as to how Iruka's mother had fallen in love with Konoha's Yellow Flash, how they had secretly married and Minato was the only father Iruka remembered. How they had both died that night, leaving Iruka with no one to blame but his brother. It was a long, painful story that Iruka wasn't sure he had the strength to tell.

"I'm going to go put Sayuri down for her afternoon nap," Kakashi informed them, before bolting from the room. Iruka couldn't help scowling at the place his lover had just vacated. Coward.

If Naruto noticed the reaction his little comment had caused, he pretended not to see it. Instead, he turned his most brilliant smile on, and put both hands on his hips. "Guess this will be our first Christmas as a family, won't it, Iruka-sensei?"

It shouldn't have been. It shouldn't have been, but he'd been childish and it had hurt to see the boy—not the fox, the boy—that had been the reason he was so alone in the world. It had taken him so long to forgive, and it hadn't been fair. But what could he do about it now? "Yes, I suppose it will."

Naruto laughed, leaning against the snow man. "I'm glad we waited until little sister came along. It gives us something to share."

Iruka swallowed, and forced a smile on to his face. Sayuri looked a lot like their mother, had her same smile, her nose, but Naruto couldn't know that. "That's one way of looking at it."

"And I'm going to make this the best Christmas ever for her!" Naruto gave him a thumbs up, and Iruka half-expected his teeth to flash. He was glad when they didn't. "That's a promise."

The Chuunin couldn't help reaching out and ruffling the fluffy blonde spikes, the smile on his face just a little more genuine. "I know you will."

End Note: Uh…well…I came up with that side plot of Kingdom of Secrets before the information on Naruto's parents was released. I can still make it work, even if it is a bit of a stretch, so I'm keeping it. I'm happy to answer questions, if you don't want to wait. Ask away.


	10. CarolsCaroling

**A/N:** Now we're back to pointless joyful fluff! And hey, I've even managed to work in some actual KakaIru this time. Hooray for me!

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 10__th__: Carols/Caroling_

"Hey, Iruka," Kakashi poked his lover with the end of his chopsticks, grinning madly. Iruka looked up from his simple meal, curious as to what had the Jounin so excited. Kakashi responded by nodding his head to something over the Chuunin's left shoulder. Iruka turned, and couldn't help smiling too.

Sayuri was sitting in her high chair, clutching her bottle to her chest. Her usually droopy eyes where little more than slits, mostly hidden by her wild red-brown hair. Her head was starting to droop down, only to jerk up once it hit her chest and start the process all over again.

Iruka chuckled as he pushed his chair back and stood. Sayuri was quickly removed from her chair and snuggled close to his chest. "Looks like somebody is ready for bed."

She whined in protest of the word, and Kakashi laughed aloud from the table. "Oh, I just can't wait until she's big enough to tell us what she's thinking. She seems to have an opinion on everything."

Iruka bent down and kissed Kakashi's bare forehead lightly. "What can I say, she's your daughter?"

"My daughter? Iruka, if either of has to make their opinion known, it's you," Kakashi grinned, standing and starting to remove the mostly empty dinner dishes. "I'm not the one who lectured Tsunade about how exposing her bosom was setting a bad example for the younger kunoichi, and making them think that they'd have to use their bodies to be good ninja."

"I didn't know who she was at the time!" Iruka was blushing furiously at the memory, and how furious Tsunade had been before she'd started laughing at him. He still stood by his argument, though, and their daughter was never going to wear something as low cut as the Hokage did while living in their house, that was for certain.

"That's the best part!" Kakashi dumped the dishes in the sink, chuckling deeply. "As far as you knew, she was just a random kunoichi that you had never met! Even if she hadn't turned out to be the Hokage, it would still prove my point."

Iruka 'hmmed' softly in response, moving from the kitchen to the nursery down the hall, Kakashi following him like a trained dog. Neither of them knew why, but both men felt it was important that they be there to tuck Sayuri in when they could. It was always something they did together, whatever else needed to be done.

Sayuri was placed on the changing table while Kakashi went and picked out her pajamas for the night. Iruka had just finished getting her into a fresh diaper when the Jounin reappeared with a pair of dark blue sleepers. Someone, probably Anko, had found it funny that this pair had the kanji for ocean embroidered on the chest. Iruka couldn't help but smile at it as he worked small arms and legs into all the correct holes, with no help from the possessor of these limbs as she half-heartedly tried to pull away.

Kakashi's arms slid around the Chuunin's waist, and the slightly taller man stooped forward a little to rest his chin on Iruka's shoulder. "She looks just like you do when you sleep, you know."

Iruka smiled, placing one hand over those clasped around his middle and using the other to lightly brush back their daughter's untamable locks. "There's no way I look that angelic."

"You'd be surprised," Kakashi laughed lightly, turning his head to kiss his lover's cheek.

Iruka was about to comment when the most awful noise started coming from somewhere outside. Iruka started and looked towards the window, "what IS that?"

Kakashi groaned, moving his head to rest his forehead against Iruka's shoulder with a loud groan. "That had better not be what I think it is. I'm still recovering from the scarring from last time."

"What?"

The awful noise got louder, and a little more distinct. Iruka could now make out some words. "Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the way!"

"Is that," he tried to move towards the window, but Kakashi held him fast. "Is that Guy-sensei?"

"Didn't I just say I hoped it wasn't?" The Jounin was not letting go of Iruka, not for anything.

After a few moments, Iruka gave up struggling. "I think I can make out Lee, too, and some girl voices…Sakura? How would she get roped in to caroling with those two?"

"Naruto," Kakashi answered simply. When Iruka picked the faintly stirring Sayuri up, Kakashi found he had to let go so the Chuunin could place her in her crib, but he did so with a heavy sigh.

Iruka smiled at him before laying Sayuri down in the crib. She whimpered and looked up at them, her brown eyes looking wider as she opened them to plead to be picked up again.

Kakashi chuckled, leaning against the side of the crib to look down at her too. "It's going to be hard telling her no when she masters that look."

There was a nod of agreement from his lover before the nightly routine began. This was always Kakashi's favorite part of bedtime, and Iruka smothered a laugh as the Jounin perked up in interest. Iruka himself didn't see what was so fascinating about it, but he wasn't going to complain when Kakashi showed interest in baby-related things.

Putting one finger to his lips, Iruka kissed it, before reaching down and pressing the finger against first one little foot, then the other. "Toes," he said softly, smiling as Sayuri looked at him with sleepy interest.

Outside, the singing was getting louder and, if possible, even more off key. Naruto's voice could very distinctly be heard above all the others. Iruka saw Kakashi twitch slightly.

Iruka kissed his finger again and put it on the baby's round belly. "Tummy."

"Rudolph the red nosed reign deer had a very shiny nose!" The carolers sang.

"Couldn't they pick a better song for a lull-a-bye," Kakashi muttered as Sayuri fretted slightly, not liking this new addition to her routine at all.

Both Kakashi and the carolers were ignored as Iruka kissed his finger again and touched it to each smooth palm, "fingers." Another kiss and the finger was placed on her face. "Nose." Kiss, "ears."

Normally, Sayuri was mostly asleep by this point, Iruka's soft words working magic. But she still looked wide awake and less than pleased, though most assuredly tired.

This was enough for Kakashi. Iruka watched as the Jounin stalked over to the window, radiating his displeasure, and threw it open to yell out in to the street below. "If you don't shut up and let my daughter sleep, I am going to come down and gut you all with a spoon!"

The singers immediately fell silent, as did everything else within a five block radius.

One last kiss of the finger, and Iruka closed each droopy eyelid. "Eyes." When the brown orbs didn't make another reappearance, the Chuunin moved across the room and, laughing, wrapped his arms around the Jounin's chest as he shut and locked the window. "Kakashi, I love you."

"I love you too, Iruka."


	11. Parties

**A/N:** I don't like this chapter, actually.

Just as further proof that I actually do have playlists for everything, I made a playlist of music that the kids have, if anyone wants it. This is, of course, assuming that I am the DJ, so take that as you will.

SIDE PAIRINGS: For this chapter, and maybe some later if they find a spot: KibaSaku, NaruHina, and InoLee. Beware my crack!

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 11__th__: Parties_

"Now, you're sure you've got everything?" Iruka was frowning, eyeing Kakashi up and down, and obviously doing a mental inventory of things attached to the Jounin's person.

Kakashi rolled his eye and sighed heavily. This bag hung over his shoulder was really uncomfortable, and it would not be getting any lighter the longer he stood there. "I'm positive. We have bottles of juice, bottle of water, a thermos of formula, diapers, wipes, a fresh change of clothes, a change of pajamas, a change of shirt for me in case she decides to spit up, toys, books, her blanket, eye drops, earplugs, baby medicine, medicine for me, tissues, immunization records, a list of emergency contacts, even that little nose sucker thing." Here the jounin made a motion with his hand like he was squeezing something. "I'm pretty sure she's set for life."

Iruka remained where he was, fidgeting slightly. "I really should just take her to the mission desk. The party is going to be loud; she'll get over stimulated and be fussy the whole time. Then she'll get tired and cranky, and who knows what might happen if she…"

The Jounin held up his hands in what he hoped was a calming gesture. "We've been over and over this, Iruka. You can't take her to the desk. Tsunade said you couldn't, because she needed you focused. This is just the kids' party. The lights are going to be on the whole time, no alcohol, and Shizune made Sakura promise that the music would only be decently loud. I'll probably even manage to get them to keep it low because I have Sayuri with me. We'll be fine."

"If you think Kiba Inuzuka isn't going to sneak in some alcohol, you're delusional." Iruka was half-smiling in spite of himself, Kakashi could tell. The Chuunin wasn't happy about this arrangement, but it was all they had. Their regular babysitters were all gone, and Kakashi wasn't willing to leave their daughter with a strange genin team and their sensei.

He remembered too well Obito and the type of babysitting the boy had done. He may not have been the typical example, but Kakashi wasn't willing to risk it.

"If she gets to upset, bring her to the desk," Iruka reached up, pulling Kakashi's mask up for him before kissing a surprisingly compliant Sayuri on the head. "Tsunade can just deal with it then."

Kakashi nodded, grinning under his mask. He had no doubt that Iruka would make Tsunade stop complaining it, if it came to it. The Jounin wasn't sure if it was a sensei thing, a prince thing, or both, but EVERYONE listened when Iruka commanded. Except himself, but then Kakashi had always been an odd one.

The Jounin placed a masked kiss on his lover's cheek, stepped back to give him a smart salute, before taking off out the door. Kakashi still wasn't sure what he'd done that was bad enough to piss of the Hokage so much that she'd assigned him to help chaperone the teenagers Christmas Party, but whatever it was, he was surely sorry.

He arrived, an hour late, to find the party was already getting underway. As promised to all the parents, and various other concerned adults, the lights were still on. But they had been dimmed, and the gymnasium at the Academy was barely recognizable under the horribly sparkly decorations that made it resemble some place in snow country and the giant speakers.

The kids were already dancing to the heavy beat; he could see Sakura's pink hair as she bounced beside an eager Kiba. Kakashi grinned under his mask.

Sayuri cried, and the Copy-nin took a moment to dig the ear plugs out of the horrible bag he was carrying to protect her sensitive ears, as well as the earmuffs he'd thrown in there, before moving over to where the other Jounin were leaning against a wall behind the refreshment table.

"Yo," he waved. Genma returned the wave with a dark look. If anything, that man looked less happy to be here then Kakashi was.

Guy just nodded at him, an oddly subdued reaction. Kakashi found this curious and followed his friend's gaze. Mini-Guy was out there, looking thoroughly lost, as he tried to keep up with the blonde Yamanaka girl beside him. She seemed to be having a blast, sensuously swinging her hips sensuously to the beat, and paying relatively little attention to her partner.

Kakashi chuckled and sat down next to Asuma. The other Jounin was leaning against the wall, twitching slightly, which only made the lack of his usual cigarette more noticeable.

"I take it Kurenai came then?" Kakashi grinned up at the other man, dropping his bag on the floor beside him and removing Sayuri from her carrier. She seemed happier now that the noise was dampened, and immediately reached for the bottle on the side.

Asuma nodded out onto the dance floor, where Kurenai could be seen pulling Sakura and Kiba, who'd gotten much closer together since Kakashi's entrance, back to a suitable distance. "She takes this thing kind of seriously."

"So I see." Sayuri's favorite toy, a stuffed fox that Naruto had gotten her as a joke, was removed from the bag and immediately snatched by tiny chubby hands. "Doesn't trust us to do our job?"

"Not in the slightest."

Genma came and sat on Kakashi's other side, resting his head against the wall. "I'm never doing a favor for Shizune again, if this is Tsunade's pay back." He turned his head to the side, watching curiously as Sayuri mouthed her helpless toy. "Are you sure it's a good idea to bring a baby to a party, Kakashi?"

"Not at all, but everyone is busy tonight. Didn't really have a choice." Almost absent-mindedly, Kakashi reached down and tickled his daughter's belly. She squealed with delight. "If it really starts to hurt her, I'll put a silencing jutsu up. She seems okay with just those, though."

"I'm more concerned about what she might be exposed to," Genma leered, pushing the needle to the other side of his mouth. "You never know with these kids."

"I know nothing will happen if Kurenai has any say about it," Asuma piped up, sounding thoroughly miserable.

Guy fidgeted slightly as the music changed to something with a slower tempo, and the blonde latched herself around mini-Guy's neck. The poor kid looked shell-shocked, his round eyes now seeming to take up half his face, and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, what are you thinking bringing little sister here?" Naruto's appearance was so sudden that Genma actually jumped, but Kakashi was used to the volume by now.

He simply shrugged at the teen, half-wishing he'd just let Iruka take her so that he would be left alone, "why aren't you dancing?"

Naruto's grin faltered a little. "Well…I don't like the slow songs so much. And I wanted punch."

"You don't have anyone to dance with," Genma supplied helpfully, the needle in his mouth twitching a little in amusement.

Naruto's cheeks puffed slightly as he sucked in an indignant breath. "There's one girl here for every two guys! You can't get a girl every dance. It's not possible."

Kakashi took a moment to be momentarily impressed that Naruto had not only realized this fact, but managed to articulate it. Maturity worked for his hyper-active student.

"There's one girl that doesn't have a partner," Kurenai grinned as she appeared mysteriously at Naruto's side. The look on her face clearly displayed that she'd been waiting for a chance to do this all night. The red-eyed kunoichi pointed to a dark corner on the other side of the room, to a figure mostly obscured by balloons. "Hinata hasn't danced all night."

Naruto's blue eyes went wide in surprise as he followed the Jounin's pointing finger. "Hinata? I didn't even know she was here!" The blond frowned a little, rubbing the back of his head and mussing his hair further. "But Hinata is afraid of me."

"Afraid of you?" Kakashi asked incredulously, digging into the diaper bag to try and find the book he'd brought for himself as well.

"Yeah! She always faints whenever I get near." Naruto actually looked sad about this. "I scare her silly."

Kurenai smiled sympathetically, giving his shoulders a little push in the direction of the mostly hidden kunoichi. "I think you might be surprised. Just go ask her."

Naruto shot Kakashi a helpless look, as if asking for an alternative, but the Jounin pretended not to see him as he dug through the diaper bag. How much stuff could a person fit in this thing anyway?

When he saw no help was coming from his sensei, Naruto grabbed two glasses of punch and shuffled off in the indicated direction.

"Think Hinata's going to pass out?" Genma whispered as he leaned over to peer in the bag as well.

"Most definitely."

"Don't be too hasty," Kurenai grinned wickedly at them.

"You didn't brainwash your student, did you?" Asuma frowned, looking genuinely concerned about it.

"Of course not! We just discussed how difficult it would be for Naruto to get to know her if they never get a chance to talk, that's all."

Kakashi couldn't help being a little curious as to how this was going to turn out, and gave up finding his Icha Icha. Iruka had probably found it during one of his triple-checking's of the diaper bag, and removed it without Kakashi noticing. Instead, he picked up Sayuri and exchanged her fox for a bottle of apple juice, which she happily accepted, and watched his student approach the shy girl.

He couldn't hear the conversation from where he was, but Kakashi saw Naruto hold out one of the cups of punch. It was accepted by a slightly shaking hand, only to be dropped a moment later. He could only assume that Naruto had asked the poor girl to dance.

Hinata did not, however, follow her cup to the floor, and even from this distance Kakashi could see Naruto's grin as he grabbed the girl's hand and tugged her out on to the dance floor as a new song started.

The three men on the floor looked at Kurenai in wonder.

"How long do you think she'll last?" Genma asked.

"Probably only a song or two," Kurenai admitted with a shrug, "but it's a start."

Kakashi frowned out on to the dance floor, where he could see Kiba and Sakura starting to inch towards each other again, the young kunoichi giving one of the best 'come hither' looks Kakashi had ever seen. He redirected his frown to the infant in his arms, who was happily sucking on her bottle, oblivious. "If I ever catch you giving that look to anyone, young lady, you'll never see daylight again. And any guy you dance with WILL be castrated."

Beside him, Asuma laughed.


	12. Baking

**A/N:** I have a toothache, that's spread up to my ear and the side of my head. I feel like I'm going to die. That's why this is quite short, and totally different from what I meant it to be. Enjoy the story.

Warning: Blatant and unabashed! And a complete lack of KakaIru still…

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 12__th__: Baking_

Kiba frowned, pausing in stroking Akamaru's head long enough to rub his eyes. Nope. A soaking wet Naruto was still standing there, squelching his way down the side walk, with a perfectly dry Sayuri strapped to his chest and giggling.

The dark haired teen shot a confused look over at his companion, but Hinata could only shake her head in confusion. She didn't know either.

Never being one for mysteries, Kiba waved his friend over. "Hey, Naruto, did you get in a fight with a Mist Ninja or what?"

"Nah," Naruto walked over, leaving a trail of mini puddles as he went. "I'm babysitting Sayuri-chan today, but I wanted to look for the present Kakashi-sensei hid. I guess she didn't want to go the park, though, and I ended up soaked."

Kiba could only stare at the other teen stupidly. He realized that none of that made sense, right? "Why were you looking for this present, exactly?"

Naruto fidgeted slightly, causing the infant strapped to his chest to squeal in delight. "Well, Sakura and I got Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei a Christmas present, but he found it and HE hid it and now we have to find it before Christmas or Iruka-sensei will think we didn't get him a present since Sakura and I are out of money."

That…still made no sense. But, Kiba was willing to leave it alone for now. "And how does Sayuri not wanting to go to the park end with you completely soaked?"

"W-was it her blood limit?" Hinata asked quietly, looking up from where she'd been studying her hands.

Naruto simply nodded, and Kiba mentally shuddered. He remembered only too well how real a genjutsu produced by someone related to Iruka-sensei could be. "Did she make you think the lake was a bowl of ramen to jump in or something?"

A scowl crossed Naruto's whiskered face. "No. She knew, or the jutsu did, or something, that I wanted to find the present, so she made it look like the present was in the pond."

"Sealed in something dry, I hope," Kiba grinned, before reaching up to scratch Akamaru's ears. "Why didn't you just ask me to help you? I'm sure Hinata and I could track down that present easily."

That's when the most fascinating thing Kiba had seen in days happened. Naruto blushed. Not just a little dusting of the cheeks, but a Hinata style blush where his face was practically glowing, from his forehead protector all the way down his neck, and he glanced at Hinata before studiously looking away. "No, I'll find it."

Kiba filed this information away for later use, determined to find this present so he could figure out what was embarrassing Naruto so much. It just HAD to be good.

"I-I…" Hinata started, fiddling with her hands. She paused, taking a moment to collect herself. "I have an idea of what you could do for Iruka-sensei, if you can't find it, Naruto-kun."

Blue eyes lit up, and Naruto leaned forward so he was looking Hinata in the face. Sayuri let out a yell of protest at this, but she was ignored. "You do? What is it, Hinata-chan?"

Now Hinata was blushing, Kiba felt the urge to gag at all this, and she looked down at her hands again. "Well, w-when I don't know what to get somebody, I usually make them cookies."

Naruto rocked back on his heels, causing Sayuri to yell in fury again. "Cookies?"

"Y-yes, I think everyone likes cookies," Hinata smiled. "Kiba-kun likes lemon cookies best, and Shino-kun likes peanut butter. Naruto-kun, you like pumpkin chocolate chip, right?"

"How do you know that?" Kiba asked, fully not expecting to get an answer.

Naruto, with a flair for the dramatic only he could manage, bent down and grabbed Hinata's hand. "Hinata, will you help me make Iruka-sensei Christmas cookies?"

His teammate looked dumbstruck, and probably would have passed out; except Sayuri had had enough of this back and forth game. Kiba barely had time to brace himself as he sensed the infants chakra shoot up with another scream, before he found himself sitting in a field full of yellow and pink flowers.

"Well," the young chuunin muttered to the dog by his side, "at least she doesn't seem inclined to trap people in bad genjutsu. I wonder who's deepest wish we're in."

That's how Kiba remembered the genjutsu working, even though Iruka-sensei had said it was more complicated than that. The caster, with skin contact, could project that fondest wish of whomever they were touching and make it seem real. Iruka-sensei had explained this was more effective then harsh ones, as people were less inclined to try and break out, but even so…

He glanced up, a little bemused by the ridiculous flowers, to glance at his friends. He gaped. Both were dressed in ornate kimonos—Naruto's had the symbol six embroidered on both sleeves—with matching silver bands. Hinata, her long hair pulled up in a pretty fancy style, and obviously heavily pregnant, was holding a tray of perfect gingerbread cookies.

That…was about enough of that. "Kai," Kiba muttered forcibly, performing the seal. He instantly found himself back on the street, on the bench he'd never left. He was amused to find his two friends frozen in place, staring off with identical blank looks as they were lost in the illusion.

He couldn't help laughing out loud when he saw it was not Hinata's hand Sayuri had a hold of, as he'd guessed, but Naruto's.


	13. Hot Chocolate

**A/N:** Hey look, we get a tiny bit of real KakaIru in this one. Hooray! I'm throwing something in to the back story that I just came up with last night, so if it seems like it came out of nowhere…it did.

Special treat for all of you who read 'Doggy Style' and loved Bull's last line. I got the lull-a-bye from a very loose translation of "Akane's Lull-a-bye" from Ranma 1/2 . I adapted it slightly further by removing Akane from it entirely, but I love the song itself and translations of actual traditional Japanese lull-a-byes are hard to find.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 13__th__: Hot Cocoa_

Iruka stared at his lover, his frown deepening ever so slightly. "A mission?"

Kakashi nodded, looking very apologetic. "It shouldn't take very long; I'll be back in less than a week."

Somehow, this didn't make Iruka feel any better. Short missions like this were the kind where you were sent alone, with instructions to get in, get out, and get back home as fast as you could. Usually very sensitive assassination or retrieval missions, both of which were very dangerous.

The chuunin reached out, pulling his lover close to him, and pushing his head under the Copy-nin's chin as he held the man tight. "I'll never forgive you if you don't come back safe."

He could feel Kakashi laugh deep in his chest, and a hand fisted in the back of his vest. "I always do my best."

Iruka allowed Kakashi to step back slightly, to tilt the Iruka's chin up slightly. Then Kakashi kissed him, and for a moment that was all that mattered. Lips, soft and sensitive from always being covered, moved against his, and Kakashi was here, and he was okay.

He didn't let himself think that this could be their last kiss, wouldn't allow himself to think of it as a kiss good-bye.

Only when Sayuri started to cry softly from her crib down the hall did Iruka reluctantly pulled away. "You'd better go, or you'll never get back in time for Christmas."

Kakashi stepped back, a soft smile on his face, and allowed Iruka to pass. Neither of them said good-bye, but then they never did. Good-byes were for the dead.

Sayuri was fussing in her crib, small hands bunched up in fists as she cried. Iruka bent down, scooping her up and holding here, perhaps a little closer, a little tighter, than normal. "Hey, little girl, sounds like you need a diaper change."

The infant didn't answer beyond a wet sniffle, but for once she didn't fight as Iruka changed her diaper and dressed her again. Once finished, Iruka immediately scooped her back up again and headed towards the living room. Iruka knew he should put her down in her crib, let her lull herself back to sleep, but he couldn't stand to just leave her there now.

Iruka was not surprised to see that Kakashi was already gone, but he was a little shocked to find Bull sitting in the living room, gazing curiously up at the Pakkun on the top of the tree.

"That was Kakashi's idea," Iruka offered by way of explanation. "He thought it was much better than a star."

Bull looked over at him, the large dog's tail thumping in excitement, "you brought the puppy!"

Iruka laughed under his breath. Bull was the only one of the ninken that insisted on calling Sayuri a puppy; no matter how many times Kakashi had tried to explain that she wasn't. "Just for a little while. She really needs to go back to sleep. Did Kakashi tell you to stay and watch us?"

With his tail thumping harder than ever against the floor, Bull nodded. "Kakashi said it was my turn to be guard dog."

In spite of Iruka's protests, Kakashi had developed a habit of leaving one of his ninken behind whenever he left on missions, rotating through the eight dogs one at a time. This served the double purpose of reassuring Kakashi that his two precious people were safe, and allowed him to get important information back almost instantly to Iruka, or the Hokage if need required.

Iruka reached out and scratched under the large dog's spiked collar, and he leaned in to the touch. "I'm sure you'll do a great job."

Sayuri whimpered pitifully in his arms, and Iruka held her a little closer to his chest, running his nose through her downy hair. "You miss your Dad already, don't you, little girl?" The only response was a soft, sleepy whimper.

Iruka moved to the kitchen, Bull following happily behind him. He didn't put Sayuri down as he puttered about the kitchen, heating up water on the stove. He didn't want to give his daughter a bottle of milk, as it was rather late, but Iruka felt he could use some hot chocolate himself. He instead filled a bottle with just water, and held her while she sucked on it and the water for his own hot chocolate heated up.

"I can't decide if it's easier or harder to have Kakashi gone with her here," Iruka told Bull though his eyes didn't stray away from Sayuri's eye—mini replicas of his lover's—as he spoke. "It's sometimes comforting to think that I'll always have part of him with me if something happens. But I'm afraid of what will happen the day he doesn't come back. I'm afraid I'll only see Kakashi in her, not Sayuri. I'm afraid she'll become a constant reminder of what we had, and it will only hurt us both."

"Will?" Bull asked tentatively, ears and tail drooping. "You keeping talking like it's a definite thing Kakashi won't come back sometime.

"Do I?" Iruka's laugh was a little out of place, a little bitter. "I guess I've already resigned myself to that fact. We're ninja, and people die all the time. Skilled ninja, innocent children, even…" Even little babies who had done nothing wrong, their only sin being too small to hold on.

"You're thinking of him, aren't you?" Bull whimpered, looking up at Iruka with sorrowful eyes.

"Sometimes I think I'm the only one that does." Little Sakumo, the baby they had lost. Kakashi didn't seem to realize how much it was hurting Iruka to do all these things for Sayuri and remember that there should be two babies celebrating their first Christmas. All these festivities only made his absence in their lives, something he'd never been part of but was at the same time, more keenly felt by Iruka. It was different for Kakashi. He hadn't felt both babies moving inside him, active and playful. He didn't feel like he'd failed somehow, when the baby died. "I couldn't stand to lose Kakashi too, but I know I eventually will."

Sayuri seemed to sense his dark mood, his bleak reminiscing about her twin that she would never know, and started to cry as she pulled away from the bottle. Iruka shifted her weight to hold her, one armed, against his chest while he set the bottle down. He prepared a mug of hot chocolate and, as and afterthought poured some in a bowl for Bull too. He placed it on the kitchen floor, the big dog nuzzling Iruka's hand before lowering to lap at the treat.

Iruka carried his mug and the still fussing Sayuri out to sit on the couch. When the whimpering didn't cease, the chuunin put his mug on the low coffee table. He dipped his finger in the foam of the chocolate, blew on it to cool, before giving it to Sayuri to suck on.

She pulled it in to her mouth, but didn't seem any calmer for the action.

With a soft sigh, Iruka shifted again so he was cradling the little girl. He hated to sing, particularly with a nin-dog audience, but Sayuri needed to sleep and he needed to drink his hot cocoa and forget. If it would help, he was willing to try.

Making himself a little more comfortable, Iruka began, "You toss and turn at night, there is tension in your arms. Surely you are weary of your daily battle. There is a soft feeling, when I see your sleeping face. So I'll sing, good night. Good night, good night. This song I sing for you. Daddy's lull-a-bye."

Sayuri was looking up at him, Iruka could see it through the tears that were starting to blur his vision, but she was quieter now, so he continued. "If I appear in your dreams…could I be that precious to you? If that's the case, I should be nicer to you. I know it isn't so, but tonight it's alright. So I'll sing, good night. Good night, good night. This song I sing for you. Daddy's lull-a-bye."

Iruka continued to hum the melody softly, until her breathing evened out into the steady rhythm of sleep, and the tiny fist that had clung to his shirt had relaxed.

"That's a beautiful song, Iruka-sensei," Bull whispered, his massive head lying on the coffee table.

"Kakashi sings it to her," Iruka whispered. There was only place he knew of that Kakashi could have learned a song called 'Daddy's Lull-a-bye' and the Chuunin felt his heart break just a little more.


	14. Eggnog

**A/N:** Now we're back to fluff, random side pairings, and a rather frustrated Iruka. All that and Bull too. Hooray!

If you don't know what divinity candy is, you are seriously missing out. You're also missing out if you've never watched Bluetoes the Christmas Elf. Not that that has anything to do with anything, other than the song is in my head…

_**Christmas with the Hatakes**_

_**By: Reggie**_

_December 14__th__: Eggnog_

Iruka set down the last plate of frosted sugar cookies and stepped back to admire his work. He looked over his shoulder to where Bull was lying, calmly if unwillingly letting Sayuri play with his ears. "What do you think?"

Bull happily thumped his tail against the ground, trying to smile in spite of the infants not so gentle tugging. "It all looks yummy, Iruka-sensei. I'm sure the kids will love it."

"They had better. I'm completely out of sugar now, and I bought a five pound bag yesterday!" Iruka laughed to himself as he surveyed all the treats he'd spent the last few days making. He hadn't been able to sleep, so instead there were batches and batches of homemade cookies, chocolates, candies, cakes, and drinks. The only thing he hadn't made himself was the eggnog, and then only because he didn't trust the recipe Anko had given him years ago.

It had only occurred to Iruka after all the baking and general pastry making that there was no possible way he could eat all of it. He probably couldn't even give away all of it. That was when the Chuunin happened upon a wonderful idea. He would throw his former students, those formerly known as the Rookie 9 and Team Guy, a Christmas party. He'd heard from Kakashi all about the teenage party, and wanted to see for himself what was going on with Naruto and Hinata anyway. This seemed like the perfect excuse.

Iruka grabbed one of the pieces of divinity candy off the plate and tossed it to Bull, who snatched it up eagerly. The chuunin could already hear Kakashi's complaints that he spoiled the dogs too much, that they would get fat, but if Kakashi ignored Iruka's requests to save his chakra and not waste it on summoning the dogs, then Iruka could ignore his instructions not to feed them treats.

There was a knock on the door and, plastering a grin on his face, Iruka went and opened it. In dashed Naruto, barely little more than an orange blur, racing for Iruka's specialty Pumpkin Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip cookies. He was followed by Sakura and Kiba, both walking at a slightly more sedate pace.

Iruka raised an eyebrow at the pair as they walked in together, causing Sakura to blush and look down at her feet.

Kiba let out a low whistle, surveying the room, "that's a lot of food, Iruka-sensei. You must have been cooking for days."

"I had to make sure there was enough for you, and Naruto, and Chouji," Iruka smiled, going over to pick up Sayuri so she could say hello the young ninja streaming in. They were all familiar to her, as the group was often in and out of the apartment for one thing or another and she was looking up attentively from her spot by Bull. She'd even let go of his ears, which Iruka was certain the large dog was thankful for.

Team 10 was the next to show up at the door, looking surprisingly festive in matching Santa hats. Iruka would later find out that Ino had forced them on the boys as a way of trying to brighten their holiday, but for now he was a little chocked to see Shikamaru, of all people, standing there in one.

"Hi Iruka-sensei," Chouji said brightly, his long red hair sticking out even more oddly from under the hat. "Do you have any gingerbread?"

"Right over there," the chuunin smiled, motioning to the table. Chouji made a noise of delight before joining Naruto on his cookie raiding mission. Shikamaru shrugged at him, eyeing him curiously, but was quickly distracted by Sayuri grabbing his hat and tugging it off.

The young man sighed, mussing up his hat hair so the ponytail had more life to it. "She can keep that if she wants it."

"Nonsense, Shikamaru, it's much too big for her!" Ino grinned, offering Sayuri a pacifier she had pulled from somewhere. With a giggle, the infant dropped the hat in exchange for her own toy. Ino caught the hat and put it triumphantly back on her friend's head. "Besides, it looks so much better on you!"

Shikamaru didn't seem to agree with this statement, and Iruka couldn't help chuckling at the look of disgust on the boy's face. They had only been here for a few minutes, but already these kids were making him feel better than he had all season.

Her task of humiliating Shikamaru once again completed, Ino then turned to her next target. "Oh, Sakura! I thought I saw you coming to the party with Kiba. What were you two doing together?"

Sakura's face quickly turned a shade to match her hair, and she turned away. "Just because I got a date and you didn't doesn't mean you have to…"

Sayuri dropped her pacifier in surprise as Ino squealed and pounced her friend, "so it IS a date?"

Further conversation on this line, for Iruka at least, was interrupted by the arrival of Team Guy, Hinata, and Shino.

Hinata quietly reached out, silently offering to take the baby from him. When Iruka relented, Hinata smiled brightly and cuddled Sayuri close. Iruka couldn't help smiling. The young Hyuuga had often come over to help him after they had just gotten home from the hospital, and still came over whenever she could spare a moment. Iruka had always been of the opinion that Hinata would make a great instructor for the youngest students, and this was just further proof of that theory.

Knowing that Sayuri was safe in Hinata's hands, Iruka decided to go see what damage control he could do with the girls. They all might not be his students any more, but they were still just fifteen, whatever Kakashi had to say on the subject.

"Sakura and Kiba sitting in a tree…"

"INO! That is so childish! I'm not rising to it!"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"We haven't…" Sakura fisted her hands tightly. "Well what about you and Lee?"

"Eh?" Ino cocked her head to the side. "Oh, that's right!" The blond whirled, grinning to find the boy in green—who was currently cowering behind TenTen. For her part, TenTen looked unsure as to whether she should leave Lee and let him figure this out on his own, advise him on what to expect, or protect him from this unknown plot the Kunoichi obviously had in mind.

Iruka looked over at the Shikamaru for a hint, but all he got in return was a shake of the teen head. Chouji was currently too involved in some of Iruka's homemade fudge to be of any help either.

Ino was bouncing, her blonde ponytail doing a dance of its own. "Lee-kun, I have a present for you!"

Lee peeked out from behind TenTen, seeming to gather his courage. "You…you do, Ino-san?"

"Uh-huh. Come here, I'll give it to you." There was something decidedly evil about the look on Ino's face, and Iruka paused to comfort himself with the fact that they wouldn't do anything TOO bad while he was watching. He hoped.

Lee crept forward, and TenTen seemed to decide that whatever happened now was on his own head as she went to get some punch.

Again, seemingly from nowhere, Ino pulled out a sprig of mistletoe. She held it up and planted a kiss firmly on Lee's cheek. The poor young man blushed furiously, a look of shock on his face. Sakura had a matching look, though with slightly less delight.

"Oh yeah," Naruto said around a mouth full of cookies. After Iruka shot him a look, the blonde swallowed sheepishly. "Sorry, Iruka-sensei, I just remembered something I was going to do."

After swallowing one more cookie nearly whole, Naruto walked over to where Hinata was playing quietly with Sayuri. "Hey! Hinata!"

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked up, wide eyed, and flushing slightly. "Do you need something?"

Iruka frowned, trying to figure out what Ino kissing Lee had to do with Hinata at all.

"Yeah! I wanted to ask you to be my date today, but I couldn't find you earlier. So, I'll ask you now. Will you be my date for the rest of the party?"

Hinata gasped slightly, and nodded slowly. Iruka saw Bull sneaking closer out of the corner of his eye.

Naruto's face lit up brighter than the Christmas tree, "great!" With that exclamation, he leaned forward and kissed the startled girl straight on the mouth. Iruka heard Neji start chocking not far away.

Hinata's face started out a nice pink, but was quickly going an unhealthy looking shade of fuchsia. Her eyes rolled back in to her head, and her arms went slack. Iruka darted forward, ready to catch his daughter, but Bull was already there and had the baby securely in his teeth by the seat of her pants before Hinata finished slumping forward, unconscious, into Naruto's arms and sending them both crashing to the floor.

Sayuri giggled, delighted with this new game, as Naruto floundered around awkwardly under the dead weight of his date. "Hinata? Hey, Hinata!"


	15. School Holidays

**A/N:** Hooray for Japanese baby name sites XD. Since this is post time-skip I can't use Konohamaru's age group, so I have to make up some. And aren't they cute?

_**Christmas with the Hatakes**_

_**By: Reggie**_

_December 15__th__: School Holidays_

This was going to be a long day, Iruka could tell already. As if the last day of classes before winter break wasn't bad enough, he was bringing a dog and a baby to class with him. Iruka concluded, as he shifted Sayuri onto his hip, that he was a glutton for punishment. The kid's eyes had been shifting from Bull, to Sayuri, and back again without once glancing at him or the lesson the board.

Iruka sighs, frustrated, and removes a kunai from his pocket. He flicks it at the nearest desk, where it lands squarely between small hands. "Nishie-chan, this is the last time I'm going to tell you to pay attention. And the rest of you! I'm going to be having a pop-quiz on everything we learned today, and if you don't pass you'll be going home late today!"

Sayuri looked at him, obviously frightened of his raised voice, unable to understand that he was rarely actually mad when he yelled. He shifted the little girl to snuggle into his chest, petting her fluffy hair, as his class groaned loudly.

"But Iruka-sensei," Ren, one of the boys, slammed a fist down on his desk, "it's the day before Christmas!"

"Some ninja have to work through until Christmas!" Iruka looked down at the little girl in his arms, unable to stop himself from frowning slightly. "There are no breaks when you're a ninja. You must always go on missions, no matter what holiday it is."

No matter if it's your child's first Christmas. No matter if the person you love is pregnant with your child.

"That's right," Itsuko, one of Shikamaru's cousins, called from the back of the room, her small hand stuck in the air. "My father is out on a mission right now, and mother thinks he'll be lucky to be home by New Years."

Nanami, her best friend and constant shadow, nodded to. "My aunt has been on a mission too, and we don't think she'll be back in time for Christmas either."

There were a few other nods around the room, some somber looks, as they all realized the truth of what their teacher had said.

"But, Iruka-sensei," Daichi was slumping forward across his desk, hands mussing his red hair, "we aren't ninja yet!"

Iruka couldn't help laughing at this, which settled Sayuri some, and he put the infant down between Bull's large paws. Bull, who'd been doing his best to remain still the whole time, thumped his tail, happy to have his beloved puppy back safely in his care.

"No, you're not, and you never will be with that attitude." Iruka grinned as the young boy immediately sat up straighter. "Now can anyone tell me what we've been studying today?"

The collective silence was less than reassuring.

The Chuunin sighed, running a hand over his eyes. If Sayuri weren't there, now happily playing with Bull's paws, the kids would have received a scolding they would never have forgotten. As it was, he was going to have to settle with a pop quiz.

"Alright! Everyone, come forward and show me the correct fighting stance for taijutsu."

All the students groaned collectively, some protesting rather loudly. There was only a half hour left of class, they'd get halfway through the students. Still…

Iruka glanced out the window, at the overcast sky that threatened heavy rainfall. 'Kakashi…hurry back.'


	16. Pumpkin Pie

**A/N:** Guess who?

There's a joke in here that only my friend Kalms and I will get, but I think that's alright.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 16__th__: Pumpkin Pie_

Kakashi frowned as he balanced precariously on the window sill. Iruka hadn't noticed him yet, but Kakashi really couldn't blame him for that when there was a pumpkin pie as big as their kitchen table sitting in front of his lover. The Copy-nin doubted he would have noticed Tsunade strutting naked through their kitchen with that monstrosity in front of him.

The Jounin climbed down from his perch, wincing a little at the strain it put on his broken leg. Tsunade hadn't done more than started it healing, informing him that it was her Christmas gift to him. Kakashi understood that it meant he'd have the rest of the holiday season off, with no one hounding him to do missions with the excuse of an injury and Tsunade saying that too much chakra healing was bad for your system, but really? Broken legs weren't very good gifts.

Straightening up and shifting his weight to his other leg, Kakashi grinned. "Someone decide we don't have enough treats in this house or what?"

Iruka looked up, visibly startled, before Kakashi found himself with an armful of chuunin. "What was the mission this time?" Iruka mumbled into the Jounin's chest. "Sent to map out the road of life so others wouldn't get lost?"

"It's a very long story involving grandmothers, transgender granddaughters, pink umbrellas, ninja eating Great Danes, and life threatening injuries. I'll have to tell it to you sometime." Kakashi chuckled into his lover's hair, holding the chuunin close a few moments longer before releasing him. "Was Sayuri that bad?"

"No, she was angelic for me. It was everything else that was that bad." Iruka made a face, reaching up to unmask his lover so they could kiss properly, which Kakashi appreciated. "Naruto kissed Hinata, and the poor girl about died."

"Really?" Kakashi mumbled, moving in to kiss that sweet mouth he always missed so much. He didn't really care what Naruto did with his new girlfriend, so long as it didn't result in giving Sayuri playmates. Actually, from the sounds of it, that wasn't something they were going to have to worry about any time soon.

All thoughts of Naruto and what he might or might not be doing melted as Iruka returned the kiss, his fingers pulling Kakashi's hair as hands fisted in the back of his head, trapping him so he was unable to pull away until Iruka said so.

It wasn't a gentle welcome home kiss, but one full of teeth and tounges in opposite mouths, and small sounds of desire from the chuunin in his arms. It was when Kakashi started to taste salt that his brain forcefully decided to return to earth, making him aware of how not normal this was. Reluctantly, he pulled back as much as the hands on his head would allow, staring down at the tears on his lover's face. He hadn't been gone that long! "Iruka…why are you crying?"

The chuunin dropped his hands, and returned his face to Kakashi's vest. "No reason, just…do you like the pie Anko sent us?"

Kakashi wasn't fooled, not for a moment, but his leg was starting to burn with pain, and he felt he need to be up to his best if he was going to help Iruka confront whatever it was that had been bothering the Chuunin all of December. He let it go for now, filing away the information, and leaned back a little to look at the horrendous thing sitting on their table. "Tell me Anko didn't bake then."

"I'm pretty sure she special ordered it from somewhere. I'm not sure why." Iruka smiled, the tears gone as he looked up. "Bull's been begging for a slice all morning, convinced she ordered it for him."

Kakashi laughed at this, changing his hold on the Chuunin so he was practically leaning on him for support. "I'll bet Anko sent it just to screw with our heads. Or try and make us feel obligated to return the favor with a giant dango."

Iruka smiled wryly, "that might work, if either of us liked pumpkin pie." The chuunin then frowned, shifting a little hold. "Are you hurt?"

The Jounin grimaced, freeing one of his hands to rub the back of his head. "Just a broken leg, no big…"

"JUST a broken leg? Why haven't you gone to see Tsunade?" Iruka took a step back, but didn't try and move further away, still there to support.

"I DID and she called this her Christmas gift to me." Kakashi winced as Iruka started them moving towards a chair. "She didn't like it much when I called her cheap."

Iruka chuckled, bending down to lower the Jounin into the kitchen chair. "Yet, you still came in the window?"

"Didn't want you to worry." Kakashi smiled, before looking warily at the pie by his side. "Not too much, anyway. Where's Sayuri?"

"Taking a nap. She'll be happy to see you when she wakes up." Iruka kissed his forehead before walking over the counter and tossing Kakashi a fork.

The Jounin frowned at the utensil as he caught it. "What's this for?"

"Well," Iruka grinned cheekily, "you can't take pain killers on an empty stomach, now can you?"


	17. Christmas Specials

**A/N:** This…is not where I intended this to go at all. This was supposed to be light-hearted and fun, as you can probably tell from the beginning but…after explaining some things to my friend, achillona, on LJ I decided something like this was needed. Oh, and back in 15...Iruka isn't pregnant again! He was remembering the first time.

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December__17th: Holiday Specials_

If there was one thing Kakashi didn't like—and there wasn't one, there was several—it was being made to lie still when injured. Worse than that was to lie still all alone while Iruka was out Christmas shopping. There was no one to whine to with his beloved Chuunin gone, except the infant sitting on his chest and Sayuri was rarely a sympathetic listener. Mostly she just tried to grab Kakashi's lip as he pouted and pull on it.

They had been left on the couch, Kakashi's leg now in an awkward splint and propped up on a pillow, with the remote and a glass of eggnog sitting within reach on the coffee table. The eggnog was not alcoholic, most unfortunately, the Jounin had already checked.

There was nothing interesting on the ceiling, or the walls. Kakashi had long ago memorized all the pictures Iruka placed there, of empty, meaningless, scenery of places the chuunin had never been.

Sayuri reached out a small fist and tugged a handful of Kakashi's hair, making him wince in pain. Kakashi sincerely hoped he hadn't been that strong as a baby, because he wouldn't wish this hair pulling stuff on anyone. "You're bored too, huh?"

The infant began to babble furious, noisily voicing her complaints about extended and enforced snuggle time.

Kakashi grinned and nodded, "that does sound horrible. I'm sorry you're being forced to endure it."

As if sensing the attitude of amusement at her expense, Sayuri stopped talking and glared at the person she was sitting on.

The Copy-nin smiled wryly, sincerely hoping that she would grow out of her obvious preference for Iruka someday. She would babble for the chuunin for hours with very limited encouragement on his part. In retaliation for the blatant favoritism, the Jounin reached over and grabbed the remote. If she didn't wish to speak with him, then he was not obliged to sit there and wait. He could find alternative sources of entertainment.

Sayuri jumped at the unexpected noise of the TV turning on, and truthfully Kakashi did a little also as it was much louder than he had anticipated. He reached and turned it down before flicking through the channels. "Stop me if you see something you like."

The infant made a noise that was probably disgust, or something similar, and Kakashi couldn't help chuckling. Was it just him, or did his daughter have personality enough for seven babies?

He settled on a show, some special that had been translated, though he doubted it was well. Sayuri seemed happy enough, sitting back and watching the odd things moving on the little screen. Kakashi wasn't sure how well she could see, but it must have been well enough.

It didn't take him very long to figure out the story. A miserly old gentleman who didn't think much of Christmas was going to be taught a lesson by three spirits. They sat quietly through the first, and Kakashi felt kind of sorry for the idiot when he lost his girlfriend because of it, though that childish ghost was extremely creepy.

They sat and watched as the second ghost appeared, this one seeming friendlier than the first. He was, apparently, the ghost of Christmas Present. The old man was taken to see his nephew, and sat through hearing himself be ridiculed by the assembly. Kakashi couldn't help thinking that he probably deserved it.

Then the old man was taken to the home of his mistreated employee, the one Kakashi had seen the old man try and not give a day off. It seemed the clerk had a nice little family, and sweet wife. More than that, he had a sick little boy.

When the next ghost showed the little family, devastated, talking about the church yard, Kakashi turned off the TV.

He noticed his hand was shaking a little as he dropped the remote back in its place, and he took a deep, reassuring breath.

He'd been trying not to think about Sakumo. Yes, the little grave on the Hatake family plot was visited every day, on his way home from the memorial stone. But he'd wanted this holiday to be about Sayuri. Kakashi would not let her be defined by the absence of her twin, even though he was certain it was something that could not be entirely separated from her. It would be part of her, he was sure, but the Jounin refused to let it be who she was. But…seeing the face of that father as he had put away the crutch, and the pain and sadness in it…

He'd been holding the infant Sakumo when he died.

Kakashi could remember the tiny hand that had weakly grasped his as the small, thin chest had slowly stilled. He hadn't panicked, or called for the medi-nins. Tsunade had warned them that this was probably coming, his tiny body too small and weak to take more healing or to fight on its own. Kakashi had still cried, and wondered if there was not something that could have been done. If he had been there earlier, would things have turned out different? Had there been some way, some little thing, they hadn't thought of that could have saved the life of their son?

Something in Kakashi ached, even now, for everything that should have been. There should be two babies sitting with him, starting to learn to crawl, starting to grow. Two babies to make Iruka smile. Two babies for them to love.

But there was only Sayuri and a small stone, next to his namesake. The Jounin hadn't let himself think about it for a while, but now that it had started it couldn't be helped. Sayuri was looking at him, her chubby little face pulled down in a frown. She reached out a small hand, resting it against his cheek with a soft whimper. Kakashi was only a little surprised to find his skin felt wet against her hand.

The Jounin held the little hand in his, and kissed it gently. "I'm alright, princess. I know that it hurts sometimes, but its okay."

And it would be, Kakashi had to keep counting on that.


	18. Wrapping Paper

**A/N:** I has excuse for the late! Yesterday was a snow day for my siblings so we were playing all day. No writing time for me then!

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 18__th__: Wrapping Paper_

Kakashi surveyed the massive rolls of paper that had been laid on the table for him to look at, picking up a roll of tape to inspect. "Hm, I might just be new at this, but I'm pretty sure that you don't use duct tape."

Naruto made a high whining noise and rubbed his fingers through his hair. "But, Kakashi-sensei, I couldn't find any other tape."

The Jounin bent at an odd angle, trying to keep his leg propped up on a pillow while grabbing Sayuri away from the shiny paper. Personally, he could care less if the presents were wrapped ONLY in duct tape, or not wrapped at all, but Iruka had given them the task of making sure all the presents were all taken care of and placed under the tree. All the ones he'd brought out anyway. Kakashi was sure his own presents weren't in the pile, and now he'd be unable to search since he wasn't allowed to move.

Tsunade took all the fun out his holiday. He couldn't even take advantage of the fact that Iruka would not have to get up in the mornings for school anymore. It just wasn't fair.

Kakashi shook himself from his internal pouting just long enough to sigh and point over to Iruka's desk. "The tape is in the second drawer down on the left."He then watched, bemused, as Naruto opened the drawer on the right first, realized his mistake as he was about to complain, and then opened the correct drawer.

Sayuri started struggling in his hold, obviously not happy with being removed from playing, and Kakashi set her down again. True, he'd just have to pull her away once more in a few minutes, but he wasn't allowed—Iruka said so, and Naruto would certainly tell—to get up and do anything else. That was the whole reason Naruto was over, to "help" him, while Iruka finished cleaning his classroom for the long break.

The blond returned, correct tape in hand, and dropped down by the low table. He stared at the assembled stuff in a rare moment of silence before sighing and speaking, "Kakashi-sensei, can I ask you a question?"

Kakashi 'hmmed' his affirmative answer, reaching down to remove the scissors Sayuri had managed to grab off the low table. She glared up at him and sat up, revealing how she'd managed to reach them in the first place.

"Well, it's just…" Naruto trailed off for a moment, looking obviously flustered. Kakashi barely had time to register just how odd this was before the teen blurted, "Kakashi-sensei, how much do you know about girls?"

The Copy-nin frowned down at Sayuri, and momentarily asked himself if Naruto was serious. The boy knew only too well Kakashi's preferences. Still, the Jounin supposed, he WAS older and did have more experience. He'd dated girls before, and read Icha Icha. "Enough, I guess. Why?"

Naruto fidgeted something that might have in fact been a twitch. "I think I'm really starting to like Hinata-chan."

The Jounin noted the added suffix, and couldn't help smiling. Naruto probably hadn't even noticed he was doing it.

"And," Naruto continued, seeming not to notice his sensei's amusement, "and, I've never dated anyone before. I don't even know if we ARE dating…"

It was at this moment that Kakashi realized what this was. This had all the essential elements of a father-son chat. The kind Yondaime had used to insist they have every so often, so he could keep up with Kakashi's life.

A part of the Jounin wanted to delay Naruto until Iruka got home and make the Chuunin handle it. Iruka was so much better suited for this kind of thing!

But Minato-sensei had always taken such good care of Kakashi, as much as the stubborn little boy would allow, in the absence of his own father…the Copy-nin felt that looking after his son in Minato-sensei's absence was the least he could do to repay him now.

"Well, you've been on dates." Kakashi observed, removing a spool of chakra wire from his pocket and tying a loop in it. "Would like to be dating?"

"I don't know," Naruto admitted. "I always imagined that I'd go bring Sasuke back, and the Sakura-chan and I would date, and then I'd be Hokage."

"Not anymore?" Kakashi grinned under his mask as he tossed the thread. It went a little wide of his target, but that was alright. He'd never tried this before. "Or not for a while?"

"Huh?" Naruto reached down and scooped Sayuri up into his lap, before reaching up and thoughtfully scratching his face. "No, that's always how I imagined it. Though…now that you mention it…lately, it didn't seem as happy as before."

"Hm?" He missed again, but had been much closer this time.

"Like, and first I felt like nothing better could possibly happen, so I'm going to make sure it does. But, lately, even before I noticed Hinata like…it felt more like, that'd be okay, I guess, but I don't know if I want it that way anymore." Naruto must have understood 'hm' to mean 'please, elaborate on what that means'. "Sakura-chan never really liked me that way."

"I think you're more like a little brother to her." It sounded hurtful, but Kakashi found it was always best to embrace these things head on then dance around the painful stuff like it wasn't there.

Naruto nodded, frowning, as he shifted Sayuri to grab a present and begin wrapping. "We're more like a family now, but not in the way I'd imagined. And I guess I was sort of okay with that."

"Then Hinata came in the picture." He'd successfully managed to lasso his target, and Kakashi was now beginning to pull it towards himself.

"It's not like Hinata-chan is doing anything wrong!" Naruto huffed, and the Jounin chuckled softly at the boy's defensiveness. "Kakashi-sensei, she's the best girl in the whole world, I think. I mean, sometimes she's almost too nice, and I'm not sure if she means it, but…she's funny, and brave, and when she's not being so shy she's really cool."

"But she isn't Sakura," Kakashi finished for him again. Target now in hand, he leaned onto his side and rolled it under the table. Sayuri squealed as the toy hit her foot.

"No, she's not. Which is kinda good, and kinda not." Naruto put Sayuri on the floor and began measuring out the paper to cut. He was surprisingly good at this wrapping thing. "I don't want her to be Sakura-chan, exactly. But I wish she wouldn't just let me walk all over her like she does. I'm never sure that she likes what we're doing, really, or if she just says she does because she thinks I like it."

"Have you tried talking to her about it?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto paused in his cutting, blue eyes wide as he stared up at his former teacher. "You can do that?"

Kakashi laughed, now reaching into his pocket for his book. He wouldn't really be reading it, but he needed something to keep his hands busy or he was going to go crazy. "Of course you can! It's not easy, but you can and you should. If something is bothering you in a relationship, you should talk about it."

"You should take your own advice," Naruto muttered, and Kakashi nearly choked. What on earth did that mean? "Okay, I guess I'll talk to her about that. In the mean time…what do I get her for Christmas?"

The Jounin could only stare at the boy, completely stumped. He'd never had a girlfriend for Christmas, and even if he had he would have ignored the holiday completely. Iruka was the first person since his sensei that Kakashi had thought was worth shopping for. "I don't know, Naruto."

The blond hung his head, defeated, and started to fold the wrapping paper. "That's what I was afraid of."

"But…" Kakashi mentally kicked himself, wondering why he was saying this. "I know where we can find out." Ino and Sakura were going to love this, he could tell already.


	19. Sprinkles

**A/N:** As per request…Make sure you read 18 first. And, uh, please insert your favorite Kakashi tardiness excuse here. (The real reason is that it's too fetching cold to type!)

I apologize for the horrible lack of even the pretense of KakaIru in this one, but as I said, it was requested. On a side note, I found the perfect present for Sakura and Naruto to give their teachers!

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 19__th__: Sprinkles_

Naruto shifted from foot to foot, looking at the two grinning kunoichi in front of him. "What?"

"What do you think?" Sakura demanded, gesturing widely around the crowded store. "Do you see anything you like?"

This was a trick question, Naruto was sure of it. He saw lots of things he liked, but even he was fairly certain it was too soon to buy Hinata lingerie. "Sakura-chan…are you sure this is the right store to be in?"

"Of course she is," Ino piped up, scowling, before her face instantly morphed into a dreamy look. "I wish I had a boyfriend to buy me things from here."

"Uh…" Naruto stared at her, shocked, before looking over at the wall of rather scanty underwear. And here he'd been thinking girls liked fluffy bunnies and stuff!

Sakura's punch to the back of his head was a little unexpected, and he went sprawling. "Idiot! She means the jewelry and stuff!"

"Jewelry?" The teen sat up, rubbing his head, and looked around more closely. To his immense surprise, the shop DIDN'T sell only underwear, as he'd first supposed. There were, in fact, sections for lotions, jewelry, and other such girly stuff that he hadn't seen before. Naruto laughed nervously. "Oh. I didn't notice that before."

"That's because you were too busy being a pervert," Ino huffed, crossing her arms under her chest. She ignored Naruto's squawk of protest, and grabbed her friend's wrist. "Come on, Sakura, let's leave Naruto to look around and find something for us to approve. I need to buy my mom lotion."

"But," Naruto called after their retreating backs, suddenly afraid to be seen alone in this store. "But I still need help!"

The two girls did not respond.

Gulping, Naruto sat up and started inching his way toward the jewelry counter. He was seriously debating activating his sexy jutsu just to seem less out of place among the throngs of women browsing the store. After watching Iruka-sensei being stuck as a woman for months, though, he was always much more hesitant to use it than before.

He frowned down at the selection of glittery objects below the glass case. As far as Naruto was concerned, jewelry was like sprinkles on cupcakes—they were nice and everything, but about the last thing you cared about. As far as he could tell, all the little pieces looked the same, and he had no idea what kind Hinata might like. He'd never seen her wear any before.

He was just bending down to inspect a charm bracelet when someone bumped into him from behind, knocking him into the counter and forcing the air out of his lungs. He gasped a little, and once he had air enough to yell, he whirled around, "hey, watch it you…" The words died on his lips when he realized he was nose to nose with one furiously blushing Inuzuka Kiba.

The brunette boy huffed, turning his head to the side. "Seems you got roped in to coming here as well."

"Huh?" Naruto turned his head to the side, blinking several times to see if Kiba disappeared before his eyes. "What are YOU doing here?"

"I told my sister that I didn't know what to get Sakura for Christmas." Kiba growled a little, running a hand through his already mussed up hair. "She dropped me off here before I could protest."

"For Sakura-chan?" Naruto scratched his head in confusion. "You've never gotten her a present before."

"Idiot! Of course not!" Kiba growled louder, revealing rather sharp teeth. "But we're friends this year and I want to impress her."

"Impress…" Blue eyes widened in shock, and Naruto couldn't help pointing at his friend. Due to the close proximity they were standing in, this resulted in his finger resting against Kiba's nose. "You like Sakura-chan?"

Kiba's dubious expression seemed to say, quite clearly, that Naruto should have known this already. The blond laughed a little under his breath, reflecting back over the last few weeks. He'd been thinking so much about Hinata that he hadn't noticed just how much time Kiba had spent around Sakura-chan lately.

"Kiba-san! Naruto-kun!" The enthusiastic yell caused both boys to look up, horrified that they'd been spotted by a friend in this place. Something horrendously green ran up to them. Lee paused and literally flashed them a grin. "Are you shopping for your beloveds as well?"

"Beloveds?" Naruto echoed before glancing away. "I don't know if I'd go that far just…"

"I sincerely hope you've had better luck than I have." Lee sniffled and looked over his shoulder nervously. "TenTen recommended this store to me, but I have found nothing for my fair love yet!"

"Who is he talking about?" Kiba whispered, and Naruto could only shrug. He'd seen Lee with Ino a few times, but he always looked so uncomfortable with her that the kyuubi vessel was fairly certain it wasn't HER.

"I was just going to look at the jewelry," Naruto motioned towards the counter.

Beside him, Kiba shook his head. "Hinata doesn't wear jewelry. Her father doesn't approve of it. You'll want to find something else."

"What? But I don't HAVE any other ideas!" Naruto groaned, pressing his palms to his eyes.

"How about those?" Kiba grabbed something from off the wall behind Naruto's head and held them out. It was a little purple velvet bag, and he held it out for Naruto's inspection. "She'll probably think they're cute."

"Love tokens?" Naruto grabbed the bag and read the tag. "Includes little silver coins to be used for currency in a relationship. Includes over thirty coins with messages such as 'good for one kiss', 'good for one hug', 'good for breakfast in bed', and many more…"

The blond frowned at them for a moment before grinning. Hinata was much too shy to ask him for things she wanted, but maybe these would help her! Instead of saying the words, she could just hand him a coin! "They're perfect!"

"Yeah, but didn't you say you had no more money a few days ago?" Kiba frowned, scratching his head.

"Kakashi-sensei lent me some. He seemed to think getting presents was important." Naruto could only shrug and grin a little. That was when he saw it. A little silver locket, lying on a blue pillow. Naruto leaned forward and a grin split his features as he saw that the kanji for 'ocean' was etched on to the front of it. That would be the PERFECT present for Sayuri when she was older. Hopefully, he'd have enough to buy it now and save it.


	20. Christmas Dinner

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 20__th__: Christmas Dinner_

This was not one of his more brilliant ideas, Iruka decided as he surveyed the charcoaled mess on the counter. While the chuunin could bake like the world was ending tomorrow, cooking was another matter entirely, he was learning. "I'm not so sure we should try again, Anko. I'm running out of chicken."

"Nonsense," the kunoichi grinned beside him. Iruka inwardly shuddered. He'd known Anko long enough to realize that it wasn't a good thing to see that smile. "I'll go buy you more if we run out, but we ARE going to get this right."

"Not at this rate we're not," Iruka frowned again at the assorted messes that had pile around their kitchen, and fanned a little smoke out of his face. "It'll take us until Sayuri is an adult to master this mess."

Anko picked the recipe up off the counter and frowned at it. "We just need to figure out where we're going wrong, that's all. If we follow the recipe, it should be fine."

"The first one you both forgot to put the sauce on," Kakashi piped up, oh so helpfully, from his camp-out spot on the couch. The Jounin was, much to his chagrin, the official taste tester of their attempts—appointed so by Anko after he snickered at her confusion—until the kids got back from taking Sayuri to see the decorations around town. "It's not teriyaki chicken without the teriyaki."

"No, then it's just horribly burnt chicken," Iruka muttered, scratching the back of his head. "We've got the oven set to the right temperature, don't we?"

"It says three hundred and fifty degrees on the paper." Anko shrugged, leaning forward to inspect the appliance. "And the knob says three hundred and fifty, so I can only assume so, unless your temperature is off."

"It was fine when I was baking the other day." Iruka muttered as he started rummaging through the refrigerator, pushing aside a galleon of eggnog to reach the chicken thighs he had put there to defrost.

"At least we know the cooking time is thirty to sixty minutes instead of three to six now," Anko piped up happily. Kakashi made a gagging noise from the couch and muttered something about dyslexic princes.

"That still seems like quite a discrepancy to me. There's a big difference between thirty and sixty minutes." Iruka dropped the package of chicken thighs on the country, ready to start over. "How are the shrimp coming?"

"They're all battered, and the oil seems to be right." Anko grinned, picking up one of the handful of carefully battered shrimp. They'd decided it was best to work in little increments at a time, meaning they could retry several more times before they'd have to go to the store for more ingredients.

"I don't eat battered things!" Kakashi called from the couch. Iruka peered into the living room to find that the Jounin had his arms folded over the dark black t-shirt he was wearing. No one else would know with the mask on, but Iruka knew the older man was pouting.

The chuunin couldn't help smiling, and moved in to the room to kiss his lover on the top of his head. "I know. We won't make you taste the shrimp."

"Well, someone has to," Anko called merrily from the kitchen, and the pair of them could hear the happy crackling of the oil as the shrimp was thrown in.

"I don't know why you think you have to cook, anyway," Kakashi sighed, reaching out to pull the younger man as close as possible. "We could just as easily get a pizza or something."

Iruka shook his head, half-heartedly pulling away. "I want a…a family dinner, that's all. And since you're in no condition to stand and cook, that leaves the task to me."

"It's my leg that's broken, not my hands, I can help." Kakashi snorted. "And we could eat pizza as a family, you know."

Iruka frowned and swallowed, a little thickly. How could he explain to Kakashi that he wanted something that reminded him of his parents, so they and all the others they had lost wouldn't feel so far away? He was sure Kakashi would understand, but it would inevitably lead to more questions about who he was missing. The last thing Iruka wanted to do was look weak in Kakashi's eyes, for missing a baby they hadn't gotten a chance to know.

"This looks done." Anko grinned, appearing in the doorway of the kitchen, one fried shrimp in hand. "Here, 'Ruka, taste it."

After a quick inspection, Iruka decided it looked safe and took a bite. It was immediately spat back out. "Ugh! Anko, you have to peel them first!"

"Oh." The kunoichi blinked, staring at the rest of the shrimp in her hand. "Well, that makes sense. Why didn't you tell me that?"

Iruka groaned, covering his eyes with the heel of his hand.

Kakashi started to laugh beside him, before he sat up a little straighter and sniffed. "Is something on fire?"

Anko glanced back over her shoulder and gasped. She dashed in to the kitchen, "oh, hang on, I got it!"

"She knows not to put water on a grease fire, right?" Iruka muttered worriedly. That was the only thing he could think would have caught on fire in there. He stood to follow her, but Kakashi held him fast.

It was probably a good thing he did, too, as there was a yelp from the kitchen as a blast of flame and heat came from the kitchen. Iruka wasn't sure what was on fire now, but he couldn't help freezing in place, eyes wide.

"I got it! Don't call anybody! I can handle it!" Anko called. It was the last thing he heard before he found himself on the roof of a neighboring building. Kakashi, who was latched around his waist, must have transported them there.

The Jounin grinned, motioning to the smoke that was pouring out their kitchen window. "Sure you won't reconsider the pizza idea?"


	21. Gift Exchange

**A/N:** TISSUE WARNING!!!!!

_**Christmas with the Hatakes  
By: Reggie**_

_December 21__st__: Gift Exchange_

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Kakashi muttered, turning slightly to inspect himself in the mirror. The pillow strapped to his stomach was more than a little ridiculous, but it was better than the suit without it.

Kakashi wasn't sure how, exactly, he'd convinced himself dressing up in Guy's Santa Suit was a good idea. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, and surprisingly itchy even over his regular clothes. How Guy had worn it with only his underwear on was a mystery Kakashi did not really wish to contemplate.

But Iruka had spent most of dinner absent-mindedly feeding Sayuri while staring out the window, and he'd just looked so sad that Kakashi couldn't stand it anymore. He was desperate for something, anything, that would make his beloved chuunin smile again or at least talk to him. Even a shadow of a smile would be worth the pain of balancing his weight awkwardly on one foot, with his cast resting lightly against the ground.

He'd told Naruto days ago that if you had a problem with a relationship, you should talk to the other person about it. It had taken him this long to realize what the boy meant when he'd responded that Kakashi should take his own advice, but he understood now. The Jounin wasn't the only one that had noticed the pain in Iruka's eyes since December started.

Slipping the fake beard in to place, Kakashi smiled to himself in the mirror, and adjusted the Santa hat so it covered the sharingan. 'There, perfect.'

"Kakashi, are you alright?" Iruka's soft footsteps followed his voice down the hall. "You disappeared right after we put Sayuri to bed…"

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Kakashi muttered to himself, before speaking up. "Ho, ho, ho, there's no Kakashi in here! Just one jolly elf."

The footsteps stopped outside the door, which was swiftly thereafter flung open. Iruka stared at the sight before him, obviously shocked. "What the hell?"

"Uh…Merry early Christmas?" The Jounin tried, grinning sheepishly behind the scratchy beard. He should have left his mask on; the skin underneath was too sensitive for this.

"I don't know what you're doing," Iruka said flatly, "but it's creepy. You should stop."

"Oh come on! I don't even get a chuckle for my trouble?" Kakashi pouted, spreading his arms wide. "I even belted a pillow to my chest!"

The blank look on the Chuunin's face softened slightly, and he stepped further in the room. "You dressed like this for me?"

Kakashi nodded, holding his arms out childishly for a hug. It always worked better than words. "I wanted to make you smile, Iruka. You don't seem to be doing that much anymore."

There was a weak half-attempt at a smile as Iruka obliged the unspoken request, pulling as close to the Jounin as the awkward padding would allow. "I'm sorry, Kakashi."

"I don't want you to be sorry, I want to you to tell me what's wrong." Kakashi held his lover tight, inhaling his scent. "I want to try and make it better."

Iruka pulled back, brown eyes focused on the floor. "Nothing is wrong, Kakashi."

"Bullshit." The Jounin grabbed Iruka's chin, forcing his head up even if the eyes didn't follow. "I'm not blind or stupid, Iruka. I can see that you're hurting, and it's killing me inside. I'm not the only one that's noticed either." Slowly, brown eyes rose to meet Kakashi's open one, and the older man smiled softly. "Please, don't pull away from me. I want to help you."

"You can't," the words were whispered, but still audible in the silence of their room. "There's nothing…I just…"

Kakashi sighed, dropping his hand. What he was supposed to do with that? How could you help someone that didn't want it? "I haven't seen you this closed off since just after the twins were born." Iruka sucked in a breath, his eyes widening slightly as the Jounin continued. "I knew you were hurting, but you wouldn't let me help you. You were trying to be so strong, but for once, can't I be strong for you instead?"

Iruka was silent for several minutes before he slowly stepped forward and pulled the Jounin close again. "It feels wrong, somehow, to be celebrating when he's not here. I know it's silly, we only had him for a week but I loved him, Kakashi. I would have given anything if it would have just…"

For one wild second, the Jounin felt like laughing. And here he'd been thinking he was the only one that felt the absence of the baby they had barely known. Instead of laughing, he pulled Iruka close to his chest as the Chuunin's shoulders started to shake with suppressed sobs. "It's not silly. I've been missing Sakumo too."

The chuunin pulled back, or tried to. He only managed to get back far enough to look up in Kakashi's face, surprise evident on his face.

This hurt the Jounin in a way he could not explain. He pulled down his beard, instead, so Iruka could see his face and the tears leaking from Obito's eye. "Did you really think you were alone in your hurt?"

"I thought," Iruka started. "I thought I was being weak and sentimental. Logically, it's silly to miss a person you only knew for a week but...I didn't. I could feel them, both of them, growing inside me. I loved them before I ever saw them, if such a thing were possible. I'd imagined what it would be like to have them in our lives, what they would look like. Then he was just…gone…and it hurts." Iruka turned his face away as tears started to fall, in spite of his obvious efforts to stop them. "It sounds terrible, but it hurts more than losing my parents did. Because at least they'd had a chance and Sa…Sakumo didn't."

Kakashi leaned forward as best he could. "You're not alone," he whispered, between placing soft kisses on every part of his lover's face he could reach. "As soon as I saw them I knew I'd always loved them. I kept asking myself if there wasn't something I could have done differently to save him. I can never think of anything. But still I…" Kakashi pulled back a little, away from the hands that had fisted in the costume, to limp towards their dresser. "I had something made for you. It isn't exactly your present but…"

Iruka stared, watchful and silent, as Kakashi bent down to their underwear drawer. After a moment, he found what he was looking for and, holding it carefully in one hand, hobbled back.

"It isn't much," he said, "but when I thought of it, it helped me feel better. I hoped maybe you would appreciate it to."

Kakashi opened his hand, and gently pressed the object into the Chuunin's unresisting palm. He watched as Iruka looked down, and those brown eyes widened, and loving fingers traced the edges of the tiny handprint. "Sakumo Hatake," Iruka whispered. "July 25th to August 1st…"

"When Tsunade asked me at the time if I wanted a cast made of his hand, I told her no. I thought it would hurt too much to see. She did it anyway, telling me she'd keep it until I wanted it later." Kakashi chuckled softly, watching the tears silently falling down his lover's face. "Seems she was right, again. I felt better, knowing we could at least have a small piece."

"It's perfect," Iruka whispered, no longer fighting his silent tears. Kakashi found his arms full of Chuunin again as Iruka all but flung himself into Kakashi's arms, burying his face in the Jounin's chest.

Kakashi kissed the top of his lover's head, rocking them both as best he could with his injury. "It will be."


End file.
